Avatar Posted by duke 413 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: This Day in History
Operation Infinite Reach was a US cruise missile strike on purported terrorist bases in Afghanistan and Sudan. The attack came in response to bombings at US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed at least 235 people and were linked to local members of al Qaeda. The US response targeted terrorist camps in Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan, which the US claimed was helping Osama bin Laden build chemical weapons. Why was the US criticized for the attack in Sudan?
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Avatar Posted by duke 414 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: This Day in History
After becoming the major power in the Indian subcontinent on the late 18th century, the British Empire sought to defend against Russian encroachment upon its trade routes through Afghanistan, especially Kabul. From this point on, Afghanistan had the role of a buffer state, suffering countless wars and treaties, until the British relinquished their control of Afghanistan's foreign affairs by signing the Treaty of Rawalpindi. Who was Amanullah Khan?
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Avatar Posted by duke 415 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: This Day in History
Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita is the story of a middle-aged European intellectual's infatuation with a 12-year-old American "nymphet," a term Nabokov himself coined in this novel. Due to the novel's highly controversial subject matter, Nabokov initially had trouble finding a publisher for the work. Today, it is considered one of the finest novels written in the 20th century. Lolita contains a number of literary allusions to the works of Edgar Allan Poe. What are a few examples?
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Avatar Posted by duke 416 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: This Day in History
Leo Frank was a Jewish American factory manager who was accused of raping and murdering his employee, 12-year-old Mary Phagan. Frank was convicted, despite evidence incriminating a janitor at the factory, but his death sentence was commuted when further evidence called his guilt into question. A group with ties to the Ku Klux Klan then kidnapped and lynched Frank in a highly publicized event that turned the spotlight on anti-Semitism in the US and led to the founding of what organization?
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Avatar Posted by duke 417 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: This Day in History
The 1st transatlantic telegraph cable bridged the N American continent with that of Europe, speeding up communication between the two; messages that had taken weeks to deliver by ship could now be transmitted in minutes by telegraph. It took 3 attempts over an 8-year period before a lasting connection could be maintained. On Aug 16, 1858, the UK's Queen Victoria sent a telegram of congratulations to US President James Buchanan through the line. What was her message, and how did Buchanan respond?
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Avatar Posted by duke 419 days ago (http://columbia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: This Day in History
As leader of the trade union Solidarity, Walesa, a moderate, gained numerous concessions from the Polish authorities before his arrest and internment during the military crackdown of 1981. He was released in 1982 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize a year later. In 1990, Walesa was elected president of Poland. He failed to win reelection in 1995 and ran again in 2000. What percentage of the vote did he receive that year?
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Avatar Posted by duke 420 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: This Day in History
Tenochtitlán was the flourishing capital of the Aztec Empire with an estimated population of between 200,000 and 300,000, a unique system of lake agriculture known as chinampas, and a ceremonial precinct that contained a great pyramid sacred to the Aztec war god Huitzilopochtli. Hernán Cortés was routed from the city in 1520, but returned a year later, took the city after a three-month siege, and razed it. What city did Cortés found on the ruins of Tenochtitlán?
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Avatar Posted by duke 422 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: This Day in History
Magellan's expedition sailed down the South American coast, through the Straight of Magellan, and across the Pacific Ocean, which Magellan himself na read more »
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