of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the
British House of Lords. The system was introduced in 1707, when England
and Scotland became the Kingdom of Great Britain (Act of Union 1707
pictured). At the time, there were 168 English and 154 Scottish peers,
but the English population was roughly five times greater than that of
Scotland. The English peers feared that the House of Lords would be
swamped, and arranged for the election of a small number of Scottish
peers. A similar arrangement was adopted when the Kingdom of Great
Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged into the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. Scotland elected 16 representative
peers, who sat for the duration of a Parliament, while Ireland elected
28, who sat for life. Elections for Irish peers ceased when the Irish
Free State gained independence in 1922, although already-elected Irish
peers were entitled to sit until their death; the last was the 4th Earl
of Kilmorey, who died in 1961. Elections for Scottish peers ended in
1963, when they all obtained the right to sit in the House of Lords.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representative_peer>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1285:
Forces led by Prince Tran Quang Khai of Vietnam's Tran Dynasty
destroyed most of the invading Mongol naval fleet in a battle at Chuong
Duong.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tran_Quang_Khai>
1800:
War of the Second Coalition: In the Battle of Marengo,
Napoleonic forces secured victory over the Habsburgs when defeat had
appeared inevitable until the arrival of French troops led by Louis
Desaix.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marengo>
1940:
World War II: Four days after the French government fled Paris,
German forces occupied the French capital (pictured), essentially ending
the Battle of France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_France>
1966:
The Vatican formally abolished its 427-year-old list of
prohibited books.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_Librorum_Prohibitorum>
1985:
The Schengen Agreement, a treaty to abolish systematic border
controls between participating European countries, was signed between
five of the ten member states of the European Economic Community.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
vexillology:
The study of flags.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vexillology>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Each time I think I've made a connection with someone... once
they find out what I can do, whether it's hours or days later,
everything changes. Invariably they freak. They get retroactively
paranoid, wondering what else Clark Kent is hiding from them.
--Superman: Birthright
<https://en.wikiquote.org//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman:_Birthright>
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