and early history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the first Lithuanian
state. In 1219, twenty-one Lithuanian dukes signed a peace treaty with
Galicia–Volhynia – the first proof that the Baltic tribes were
uniting. Despite continuous warfare with two Christian orders, the
Livonian Order and the Teutonic Knights, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
was established and gained some control over neighbouring lands that
were vulnerable after the collapse of Kievan Rus'. Mindaugas (modern
commemorative coin pictured) was crowned as King of Lithuania in 1253
and is traditionally regarded as the founder of the state. However, in
1261, he broke the peace with the Livonian Order, and his assassination
in 1263 by Treniota ended the early Christian kingdom in Lithuania. It
was a pagan empire for the next 120 years, fighting against the
Teutonic and Livonian Orders during the Northern Crusades. After
Mindaugas' death, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania entered times of relative
instability but did not disintegrate. Vytenis assumed power in 1295, and
during the next twenty years laid solid foundations for the Duchy to
expand and grow.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Lithuania_(1219%E2%80%931295)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1862:
American Civil War: Union victory in the Battle of Fort
Donelson gave General Ulysses S. Grant the nickname "Unconditional
Surrender" Grant.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Donelson>
1923:
English archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter unsealed
the burial chamber of Tutankhamun (mask pictured), an Egyptian Pharaoh
of the eighteenth dynasty.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tutankhamun>
1961:
The DuSable Museum, the first museum dedicated to the study and
conservation of African American history, culture, and art, was
chartered.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuSable_Museum_of_African_American_History>
1983:
The Ash Wednesday fires burned 513,979 acres (2,080 km2) in
South Australia and 518,921 acres (2,100 km2) in Victoria, killing 75
people and injuring 2,676 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_Wednesday_fires>
2005:
The Kyoto Protocol, an amendment to the international treaty on
climate change, entered into force.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
treknobabble:
A kind of technobabble particular to the Star Trek universe, with a
particularly heavy emphasis on configurations of pseudoscientific
particles and waves.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/treknobabble>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
No one means all he says, and yet very few say all they mean, for words
are slippery and thought is viscous.
--Henry Adams
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Adams>
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