mostly white minority government of Prime Minister Ian Smith on 11
November 1965. It announced that the British colony of Rhodesia, self-
governed since 1923, regarded itself as a sovereign state. The
culmination of a protracted dispute between the British and Rhodesian
governments, it was the first unilateral breakaway by a British colony
since the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was
largely motivated by the perception among white Rhodesians that they
were due independence following four decades of self-government and that
Britain was betraying them by insisting on majority rule as a condition;
the white minority of about 5% was loath to transfer power to black
nationalists because of racial tensions and reservations about the
country's stability. Britain, the Commonwealth and the United Nations
deemed Rhodesia's declaration illegal, and economic sanctions, the first
in the UN's history, were imposed on the breakaway colony. Rhodesia
continued as an unrecognised state until the Lancaster House Agreement
of 1979, and became Zimbabwe in 1980.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodesia%27s_Unilateral_Declaration_of_Independence>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1620:
The Mayflower Compact, the first governing document of the
Plymouth Colony, was signed by 41 of the Mayflower 's passengers
while the ship was anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_Compact>
1805:
War of the Third Coalition: French, Austrian and Russian units
all suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Dürenstein.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_D%C3%BCrenstein>
1926:
The plan for the United States Numbered Highway System was
approved by the American Association of State Highway Officials.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Numbered_Highways>
1940:
World War II: The German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis captured
top secret documents from SS Automedon that would later influence
Japan's decision to enter the war.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_auxiliary_cruiser_Atlantis>
1960:
A coup attempt by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam against
President Ngo Dinh Diem was crushed after Diem falsely promised reform,
allowing loyalists to rescue him.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_South_Vietnamese_coup_attempt>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Catch-22:
(idiomatic) A difficult situation from which there is no escape because
it involves mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Catch-22>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whatever occurs, may justice and righteousness be the stability of
our times, and order arise out of confusion. Great difficulties may be
surmounted by patience and perseverance.
--Abigail Adams
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abigail_Adams>
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