The Shrine of Remembrance, located in St Kilda Road, Melbourne, is one of the largest war memorials in Australia. It was built as a memorial to the the 114,000 men and women of Victoria who served in World War I, but soon came to be seen as Australia's major memorial to all the 60,000 Australians who died in that war. It now serves as a memorial for all Australians who served in war, and is the site of annual observances of ANZAC Day (25 April) and Remembrance Day (11 November). Around the Sanctuary walls is a frieze of 12 carved panels depicting the armed services at work and in action during World War I. The Sanctuary is surrounded by a narrow walkway called the Ambulatory. Along the Ambulatory are 42 bronze caskets containing hand-written, illuminated Books of Remembrance with the names of every Victorian who enlisted for active service with the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) or Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force in World War I or died in camp prior to embarkation.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrine_of_Remembrance

Today's selected anniversaries:

1799 The 18 Brumaire coup led by Emmanuel Joseph Siey�s and Napol�on Bonaparte deposed the government of France. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/18_Brumaire)

1872 The Great Boston Fire of 1872 began, eventually destroying over 700 buildings in Boston, Massachusetts. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Boston_Fire_of_1872)

1965 In the Northeast Blackout of 1965 several U.S. states and parts of Canada are hit by a series of blackouts lasting up to 13 1/2 hours. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_Blackout_of_1965)

1989 The Berlin Wall fell, marking the beginning of the collapse of the Soviet Union and communism in Europe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall)

Wikiquote of the day:

"It took a couple of hundred million years to develop a thinking ape and you want a smart one in a lousy few hundred thousand?" ~ Spider Robinson (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Spider_Robinson)