Maya peoples in an area that encompasses southeastern Mexico, all of
Guatemala and Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El
Salvador. The earliest villages developed before 2000 BC. The first Maya
cities developed around 750 BC, and by 500 BC these cities possessed
monumental architecture. Two hundred years later, the Maya were using
Hieroglyphic writing, the most advanced script in the pre-Columbian
Americas. Only three of their books of history and ritual knowledge are
known for certain to remain. Beginning in the mid third century, the
Classic period saw the Maya civilization develop a large number of city-
states linked by a complex trade network. In the 9th century, there was
a widespread political collapse in the central Maya region. In the 16th
century, the Spanish Empire colonised the region; the last Maya city
fell in 1697. The Maya developed highly sophisticated artforms, complex
calendars, and mathematics that included one of the earliest instances
of the explicit zero in the world. Maya architecture included palaces,
pyramid-temples, and ceremonial ballcourts.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1142:
Despite having saved the Southern Song dynasty from attempts by
the northern Jin dynasty to conquer it, Chinese general Yue Fei was
executed by the Song government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_Fei>
1785:
The University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, one of the oldest
public universities in the United States, was founded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Georgia>
1868:
Boshin War: The Battle of Toba–Fushimi, where pro-Imperial
forces defeated those of the Tokugawa shogunate and which was a catalyst
for the Meiji Restoration, began in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Toba%E2%80%93Fushimi>
1974:
The Brisbane River, which runs through the heart of Brisbane,
broke its banks and flooded the surrounding areas (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_Brisbane_flood>
1996:
Mahamane Ousmane, the first democratically elected president of
Niger, was deposed by Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara in a military
coup d'état.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahamane_Ousmane>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
whenwe:
(slang) A former British settler or expatriate who talks nostalgically
about his or her former home in colonial Africa.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/whenwe>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is said that a wise man who stands firm is a statesman, and a
foolish man who stands firm is a catastrophe.
--Hyman G. Rickover
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hyman_G._Rickover>
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