[Wikipedia Daily Article] July 22: Domenico Selvo

[Faraaz Damji]

   Domenico Selvo was the 31st Doge of Venice, serving from 1071 to 1084.
   During his reign as Doge, his domestic policies, the alliances that he
   forged, and the battles that the Venetian military won and lost laid
   the foundations for much of the subsequent foreign and domestic policy
   of the Republic of Venice.  He avoided confrontations with the
   Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Roman Catholic Church
   at a time in European history when conflict threatened to upset the
   balance of power.  At the same time, he forged new agreements with the
   major nations that would set up a long period of prosperity for the
   Republic of Venice.  Through his military alliance with the Byzantine
   Empire, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos awarded Venice economic favors with
   the declaration of a Golden Bull that would allow for the development
   of the republic's international trade over the next few centuries.
   Within the city itself, he supervised a longer period of the
   construction of the modern St Mark's Basilica than any other Doge.  The
   basilica's complex architecture and expensive decorations stand as a
   testament to the prosperity of Venetian traders during this period.
   The essentially democratic way in which he not only was elected but
   also removed from power was part of an important transition of
   Venetian political philosophy.  The overthrow of his rule in 1084 was
   one of many forced abdications in the early history of the republic
   that further blurred the lines between the powers of the Doge, the
   common electorate, and the nobility.

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


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Today's selected anniversaries:

1099:
   First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon was elected the first Protector
   of the Holy Sepulchre in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godfrey_of_Bouillon)

1793:
   Two days after becoming the first Euro-American to complete a
   transcontinental crossing north of Mexico, Scottish-Canadian explorer
   Alexander MacKenzie reached the westernmost point of his journey and
   inscribed his name on a rock using a reddish paint made of vermilion
   and rendered bear fat.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_MacKenzie)

1812:
   Peninsular War: Near Salamanca, Spain, an Anglo-Portuguese force led
   by Arthur Wellesley inflicted a severe defeat on Marshal Auguste
   Marmont and his French troops in the Battle of Salamanca.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Salamanca)

1933:
   Wiley Post became the first pilot to fly a fixed-wing aircraft solo
   around the world.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiley_Post)

1946:
   An Irgun bomb destroyed the headquarters of the British Mandate of
   Palestine at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, killing about 90
   people and injuring 45 others.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_David_Hotel_bombing)

2003:
   Coalition forces attacked a compound in Mosul, Iraq, killing two of
   Saddam Hussein's sons, Uday and Qusay, the "aces of hearts and clubs"
   on the U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis after the invasion of Iraq.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uday_Hussein)


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Wiktionary's Word of the day:

   malinger: To feign illness, injury, or incapacitation in order to
   avoid work or obligation.
   (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/malinger)


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Wikiquote of the day:

   Life is not lost by dying! Life is lost Minute by minute, day by
   dragging day, In all the thousand, small, uncaring ways, The smooth
   appeasing compromises of time, Which are King Herod and King Herod's
   men, Always and always.  Life can be Lost without vision but not lost
   by death, Lost by not caring, willing, going on Beyond the ragged edge
   of fortitude To something more — something no man has ever seen.  --
   Stephen Vincent Benét --
   (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Vincent_Ben%C3%A9t)