Avatar Posted by lanerough 69 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: Today's Birthday
Coretta Scott King was the widow of slain civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr., and a noted community leader in her own right. She was vocal in her opposition to apartheid, capital punishment, and the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, and she advocated for women's rights, lesbian and gay rights, and AIDS/HIV prevention. In 1968, Mrs. King established The King Center, a memorial dedicated to promoting the legacy and ideals of her late husband. Why was she under FBI surveillance from 1968 to 1972?
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Avatar Posted by lanerough 70 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: Today's Birthday
Richter was an American seismologist most famous for creating the Richter magnitude scale, which quantifies the size of earthquakes by assigning each quake a single number based on the measurement of seismic waves. The scale is logarithmic, so the amplitude of the waves increases by powers of 10 in relation to the Richter magnitude numbers. Numbers for the Richter scale range from 0 to 9, though no real upper limit exists. Who collaborated with Richter in developing the measurement system?
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Avatar Posted by lanerough 71 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: Today's Birthday
Cromwell, a highly controversial figure in English history, was the Puritan leader of the parliamentary forces that battled the royalists in the English Civil War. After the execution of Charles I in 1649, Cromwell became Lord Protector and virtual dictator of England. He inherited a divided and war-weary nation, to which he forcibly united Scotland and Ireland for the first time. In the 18th c, which English political party adopted his image in an effort to increase its perceived legitimacy?
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Avatar Posted by lanerough 72 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: Today's Birthday
William I of Orange was born to the House of Nassau and became prince of Orange in 1544. Though he was initially a favored page of the Spanish king, Spanish encroachments on the independence of the Netherlands and the introduction of the Spanish Inquisition led him to turn against Spain. He subsequently led the Dutch revolt that instigated the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces of the Netherlands in 1648. Why was he known as “William the Silent”?
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Avatar Posted by lanerough 73 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: Today's Birthday
Though his true date of birth remains unknown, the birthday of famed playwright and poet William Shakespeare is traditionally observed on April 23, the same day on which he died 52 years later. Since his death, his plays, such as Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, have been performed and studied all over the world. Some scholars have speculated that Shakespeare did not write all of the works attributed to him. Who do they suggest was responsible for authoring the Shakespearean canon?
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Avatar Posted by lanerough 74 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: Today's Birthday
Lenin was a Russian revolutionary and Bolshevik party leader whose mastery of political theory and shrewd political instincts led him to become the first Premier of the Soviet Union. As leader, Lenin nationalized banks, gave workers control over factory production, and introduced atheism as a political doctrine. His adaptation of traditional Marxist doctrine has become known as Marxism-Leninism and forms the basis of communist ideology. Where are Lenin's preserved remains currently displayed?
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Avatar Posted by lanerough 75 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: Today's Birthday
Quinn was a Mexican-American painter, writer, and Oscar-winning actor. Quinn boxed in his youth and studied art and architecture under Frank Lloyd Wright. He later turned to acting and achieved international stardom in the 1950s and 60s for his ability to portray ethnically diverse characters, most notably Zorba the Greek. He fathered 12 children and wrote two memoirs, and his paintings have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. In what 1952 film did Quinn appear opposite Marlon Brando?
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Avatar Posted by lanerough 76 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: Today's Birthday
According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad received his first divine revelation at the age of 40. The Qur'an, the sacred book of Islam, records many of the revelations Muhammad received as the final prophet of God. Included among Muhammad's fundamental teachings are the ideas that there is one God; that people must in all things submit to Him; and that nations have been punished for rejecting God's prophets. The mass of legends and traditions about Muhammad are contained in what collection?
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