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From today's featured article

Ottomans with Christian slaves, 1639 drawing.

Slavery in the Ottoman Empire was a legal and significant part of the Ottoman Empire's economy and society. The main sources of slaves were war captives and organized enslavement expeditions in North and East Africa, Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Circassia in the Caucasus. It has been reported that the selling price of slaves fell after large military operations. Enslavement of Caucasians was banned in the early 19th century, while slaves from other groups were allowed. In Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), the administrative and political center of the Empire, about a fifth of the population consisted of slaves in 1609.

Even after several measures to ban slavery in the late 19th century, the practice continued largely unabated into the early 20th century. As late as 1908, female slaves were still sold in the Ottoman Empire. Sexual slavery was a central part of the Ottoman slave system throughout the history of the institution. (Full article...)

Did you know...

• ... that the Drudge Report had ten billion visits in the past year?
• ... that Ida Silverman logged over 600,000 air miles traveling the world, speaking and fund-raising for the creation of a Jewish state?
• ... that NuScale Power has designed a line of small, modular nuclear reactors?
• ... that Jupiter is considered a Substellar object?
• ... that the President of the US, the Supreme Court and Congress are three significant branches of the US Government?
• ... that there were 31 ancient Egyptian dynasties?
• ... that the Sacred Heart Church in Exeter, England is the earliest surviving architectural work of Leonard Stokes?

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On this day...

November 25

• 571 BC – Servius Tullius, king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victory over the Etruscans.
• 1177 – Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Raynald of Châtillon defeat Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard.
• 1343 – A tsunami, caused by an earthquake in the Tyrrhenian Sea, devastates Naples (Italy) and the Maritime Republic of Amalfi, among other places.
• 1926 – The deadliest November tornado outbreak in U.S. history strikes on Thanksgiving Day. Twenty-seven twisters of great strength are reported in the Midwest, including the strongest November tornado, an estimated F4, that devastates Heber Springs, Arkansas. There are 51 deaths in Arkansas alone, 76 deaths and over 400 injuries in all.
• 1936 – In Berlin, Germany and Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, agreeing to consult on measures "to safeguard their common interests" in the case of an unprovoked attack by the Soviet Union against either nation. The pact is renewed on the same day five years later with additional signatories.
• 1970 – In Japan, author Yukio Mishima and one compatriot commit ritualistic seppuku after an unsuccessful coup attempt.
• 2000 – The 2000 Baku earthquake, with a Richter magnitude of 7.0, leaves 26 people dead in Baku, Azerbaijan, and becomes the strongest earthquake in the region in 158 years.

• More anniversaries:
  • November 24
  • November 25
  • November 26

November 26

• 1161 – Battle of Caishi: A Song dynasty fleet fights a naval engagement with Jin dynasty ships on the Yangtze river during the Jin–Song Wars.
• 1865 – Battle of Papudo: A Spanish navy schooner is defeated by a Chilean corvette north of Valparaíso, Chile.
• 1944 – World War II: Germany begins V-1 and V-2 attacks on Antwerp, Belgium.
• 1950 – Korean War: Troops from the People's Republic of China launch a massive counterattack in North Korea against South Korean and United Nations forces (Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River and Battle of Chosin Reservoir), ending any hopes of a quick end to the conflict.
• 1983 – Brink's-Mat robbery: In London, 6,800 gold bars worth nearly £26 million are stolen from the Brink's-Mat vault at Heathrow Airport.
• 2000 – George W. Bush is certified the winner of Florida's electoral votes by Katherine Harris, going on to win the United States presidential election, despite losing in the national popular vote.
• 2004 – Ruzhou School massacre: A man stabs and kills eight people and seriously wounds another four in a school dormitory in Ruzhou, China.

• More anniversaries:
  • November 25
  • November 26
  • November 27

• 1868 – American Indian Wars: Battle of Washita River: United States Army Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer leads an attack on Cheyenne living on reservation land.
• 1886 – German judge Emil Hartwich sustains fatal injuries in a duel, which would become the background for Theodor Fontane's Effi Briest.
• 1945 – CARE (then the Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe) was founded to a send CARE Packages of food relief to Europe after World War II.
• 1968 – Penny Ann Early became the first woman to play major professional basketball, for the Kentucky Colonels in an ABA game against the Los Angeles Stars.
• 1975 – The Provisional IRA assassinates Ross McWhirter, after a press conference in which McWhirter had announced a reward for the capture of those responsible for multiple bombings and shootings across England.
• 1984 – Under the Brussels Agreement signed between the governments of the United Kingdom and Spain, the former agreed to enter into discussions with Spain over Gibraltar, including sovereignty.
• 1989 – Avianca Flight 203: A Boeing 727 explodes in mid-air over Colombia, killing all 107 people on board and three people on the ground. The Medellín Cartel will claim responsibility for the attack.

• More anniversaries:
  • November 26
  • November 27
  • November 28

Today's featured picture

Christ Carrying the Cross on his way to his crucifixion is an episode included in all four Gospels, and a very common subject in art, especially in the fourteen Stations of the Cross, sets of which are now found in almost all Catholic churches. However the subject occurs in many other contexts, including single works and cycles of the Life of Christ or the Passion of Christ. Alternative names include the Procession to Calvary, Road to Calvary and Way to Calvary, Calvary or Golgotha being the site of the crucifixion outside Jerusalem. The actual route taken is defined by tradition as the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, although the specific path of this route has varied over the centuries and continues to be the subject of debate. (Full article...)

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