Sikhism is a religion that began in sixteenth century Northern India with the teachings of Nanak and nine successive human Gurus. This system of religious philosophy and expression has been traditionally known as the Gurmat. Sikhism is the ninth-largest organised religion in the world. The principal belief in Sikhism is faith in one God — Vāhigurū. Sikhism advocates the pursual of salvation through disciplined, personal meditation on the name and message of God. The followers of Sikhism are ordained to follow the teachings of the ten Sikh Gurus, or enlightened leaders, as well as the holy scripture — the Gurū Granth Sāhib — which includes the selected works of many authors from diverse socioeconomic and religious backgrounds. The text was decreed by Gobind Singh as the final guru of the Khalsa Panth. Adherents of Sikhism are known as Sikhs and number over 23 million across the world. However, most Sikhs live in the state of Punjab in India; prior to partition, millions of Sikhs used to live in what is now the Punjab province of Pakistan.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1807: Robert Fulton started the first commercial steamboat service in the world.

1896: Bridget Driscoll became the first person to be killed in a petrol-driven car accident.

1914: World War I: Ignoring orders to retreat, Hermann von François led a successful counterattack defending East Prussia in the Battle of Stalluponen and scored the first German victory in the Eastern Front.

1962: East German border guards shot and killed Peter Fechter as he attempted to cross the Berlin Wall into West Berlin.

1988: President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan was killed in a plane crash.

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"One isn't born one's self. One is born with a mass of expectations, a mass of other people's ideas — and you have to work through it all." -- V.S. Naipaul (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/V.S._Naipaul)