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From today's featured article

The Tang dynasty (Chinese: 唐朝; pinyin: Táng Cháo; Wade–Giles: T'ang Ch'ao) was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was founded by the Lǐ family (李), who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire. The dynasty was briefly interrupted when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Second Zhou dynasty (690–705) and becoming the only Chinese empress regnant.

The Tang dynasty, with its capital at Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), which at the time was the most populous city in the world, is generally regarded as a high point in Chinese civilization: a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. Its territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han dynasty. In two censuses of the 7th and 8th centuries, the Tang records estimated the population (Full article...)

Did you know...

• ... that Ida Silverman logged over 600,000 air miles traveling the world, speaking and fund-raising for the creation of a Jewish state?
• ... that the name Zoroaster possibly means "he who manages camels"?
• ... that Arii Matamoe (pictured), an 1892 painting of a Pacific Islander's severed head, may have been inspired by the death of Pōmare V shortly after Paul Gauguin's arrival in Tahiti?
• ... that Jupiter is considered a Substellar object?
• ... that Emma Dench, a British classicist and the McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History at Harvard University, appeared in a film alongside her aunt Judi Dench in 1968?
• ... that Ian McDonald's 2015 science fiction novel Luna: New Moon has been called "Game of Thrones in space"?
• ... that some people think approximately 300 years of phantom time were added to the Western calendar in the Early Middle Ages

In the news (from Infogalactic News)

• Texas Sends Troops To Defend Border
  Stand, Men Of The West!
  

• Trump Ends "Catch and Release"
  Foreign Nationals In Country Illegally Will No Longer Be Released On Own Recognizance
• 14 Killed In Canada Horror Crash
  Ice Hockey Team Involved In Fatal Incident
  

• Menendez Brothers Reunited In Jail
  Infamous 80's Parent-Killers Meet After 17 Years
• Russian Spy 'Improving Rapidly' After Poisoning
  Amazing Recovery From Supposedly Deadly Nerve Gas
• DOJ Deigns To Allow Congress To View Carter Page FISA Documents
  "Extraordinary Accommodation" Who Answers To Who Here?
• Estonia Expands DNA Grab Of 100,000 Citizens
  Part Of Its National Personalized Medicine Campaign
  

On this day...

April 6

• 1320 – The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath.
• 1385 – John, Master of the Order of Aviz, is made king John I of Portugal.
• 1812 – British forces under the command of the Duke of Wellington assault the fortress of Badajoz. This would be the turning point in the Peninsular War against Napoleon-led France.
• 1896 – In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games is celebrated, 1,500 years after the original games are banned by Roman emperor Theodosius I.
• 1923 – The first Prefects Board in Southeast Asia is formed in Victoria Institution, Malaysia.
• 1941 – World War II: Nazi Germany launches Operation 25 (the invasion of Kingdom of Yugoslavia) and Operation Marita (the invasion of Greece).
• 2008 – The 2008 Egyptian general strike starts led by Egyptian workers later to be adopted by April 6 Youth Movement and Egyptian activists.

• More anniversaries:
  • April 5
  • April 6
  • April 7

April 7

• 1141 – Empress Matilda became the first female ruler of England, adopting the title 'Lady of the English'.
• 1908 – H. H. Asquith of the Liberal Party takes office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, succeeding Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman.
• 1943 – Ioannis Rallis becomes collaborationist Prime Minister of Greece during the Axis Occupation.
• 1948 – The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations.
• 1976 – Member of Parliament and suspected spy John Stonehouse resigns from the Labour Party (UK) after being arrested for faking his own death.
• 2001 – Mars Odyssey is launched.
• 2009 – Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is sentenced to 25 years in prison for ordering killings and kidnappings by security forces.

• More anniversaries:
  • April 6
  • April 7
  • April 8

• 1740 – War of Jenkins' Ear: Three British ships capture the Spanish third-rate Princesa, taken into service as HMS Princess.
• 1820 – The Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos.
• 1908 – Harvard University votes to establish the Harvard Business School.
• 1924 – Sharia courts are abolished in Turkey, as part of Atatürk's Reforms.
• 1942 – World War II: The Japanese take Bataan in the Philippines.
• 1946 – Électricité de France, the world's largest utility company, is formed as a result of the nationalisation of a number of electricity producers, transporters and distributors.
• 1970 – Bahr El-Baqar primary school bombing: Israeli bombers strike an Egyptian school. Forty-six children are killed.

• More anniversaries:
  • April 7
  • April 8
  • April 9

Today's featured picture

The Mona Lisa (/ˌmoʊnə ˈliːsə/; Italian: Monna Lisa [ˈmɔnna ˈliːza] or La Gioconda [la dʒoˈkonda], French: La Joconde [la ʒɔkɔ̃d]) is a half-length portrait of a woman by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, which has been acclaimed as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world". (Full article...)

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