On This Day
2014 – Crimea votes in a controversial referendum to secede from Ukraine to join Russia.[28]
The Crimean status referendum of 2014 was a disputed referendum concerning the status of Crimea, held on March 16, 2014 in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the local government of Sevastopol (both subdivisions of Ukraine). The referendum was approved and held amidst Russia’s annexation of Crimea.[2][3] The referendum asked local populations whether they wanted to join Russia as a federal subject, or if they wanted to restore the 1992 Crimean constitution and Crimea’s status as a part of Ukraine. The official result from the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was a 97 percent vote for integration of the region into the Russian Federation with an 83 percent voter turnout, and within the local government of Sevastopol there was also a 97 percent vote for integration of the region into the Russian Federation with an 89 percent voter turnout.[a]
The March 16 referendum’s available choices did not include keeping the status quo of Crimea and Sevastopol as they were at the moment the referendum was held. The 1992 constitution accords greater powers to the Crimean parliament, including full sovereign powers to establish relations with other states; therefore, many Western and Ukrainian commentators argued that both provided referendum choices would result in de facto separation from Ukraine.[4][5][6] The final date and ballot choices were set only ten days before the plebiscite was held. Before, during and after the plebiscite was proclaimed, the Crimean peninsula was host to Russian soldiers who managed to oversee public buildings and Ukrainian military installations.[2]
Following the referendum, the State Council of Crimea and Sevastopol City Council declared the independence of the Republic of Crimea from Ukraine and requested to join the Russian Federation.[7] On the same day, Russia recognized the Republic of Crimea as a sovereign state.[8][9][10]
The referendum is not internationally recognized by most countries,[11] mainly due to the presence of Russian forces.[12] Thirteen members of the United Nations Security Council voted in favor of a resolution declaring the referendum invalid, but Russia vetoed it and China abstained.[13][14] A United Nations General Assembly resolution was later adopted, by a vote of 100 in favor vs. 11 against with 58 abstentions, which declared the referendum invalid and affirmed Ukraine’s territorial integrity.[12] As the plebiscite was proclaimed, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People had called for a boycott of the referendum.[15][16]
Born On This Day
1750 – Caroline Herschel, German-English astronomer (d. 1848)[50]
Caroline Lucretia Herschel (/ˈhɜːrʃəl, ˈhɛər-/;[1] 16 March 1750 – 9 January 1848) was a German astronomer, whose most significant contributions to astronomy were the discoveries of several comets, including the periodic comet 35P/Herschel–Rigollet, which bears her name.[2] She was the younger sister of astronomer William Herschel, with whom she worked throughout her career.
She was the first woman to receive a salary as a scientist.[3] She was the first woman in England to hold a government position.[4] She was the first woman to publish scientific findings in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society,[5] to be awarded a Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1828), and to be named an Honorary Member of the Royal Astronomical Society (1835, with Mary Somerville). She was also named an honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy (1838). The King of Prussia presented her with a Gold Medal for Science on the occasion of her 96th birthday (1846).[6]
FYI
NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day
By Ayun Halliday, Open Culture: Free Coloring Books from The Public Domain Review: Download & Color Works by Hokusai, Albrecht Dürer, Harry Clarke, Aubrey Beardsley & More
By Ted Mills, Open Culture: Fan Faithfully Reconstructs Cream’s Final Concert: Watch a New Version of the Show with the Correct Song Order and Run-Time (1968)
By Colin Marshall, Open Culture: When Oliver Stone & Vladimir Putin Chillingly Watched Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove Together
Atlas Obscura: 5 forgotten pie reci(pie)s to recreate and more ->
By Natalie Wallington, Popular Science: Transform Your Yard Into an Owl Kingdom Whooo doesn’t love owls?
Munchkin!
In this episode you will hear:
I was put on this earth to move people.
My chin was pushed into my chest; a second player grabbed my legs; I fell forward; my nose slammed against my chest, and when I hit the ground with the top of my head – poof – I couldn’t feel anything.
My whole life, I’ve tried to make my parent’s proud.
The doctors said: “If, one day, you could take a piece of pizza and bring it to your face, then you made it.”
Going under the knife in the area of my spinal cord – they said there was a chance I would not wake up, so I started calling my buddies.
I’m a man of faith. I needed prayers. I needed God.
The one thing you do have control over is your mindset.
Great opportunities comes from great challenges.
If I didn’t have humor through all of this, I would be crushed, depressed.
This is such a gift. Just to be able to struggle to walk around my house.
I had to go through something tough to gain perspective, but it a gift I use in my life, and I can help give it to others. It’s my purpose.
When I saw my hamstring twitch I said “Okay. Game on.” It was like smelling blood in the water.
No person has stood by my side like my mom.
I’m gonna be a damn good man, and I’m gonna live a damn good life, because I have angels around me.
I love my life. I’m proud of who I am.
We can’t wait to start enjoying our lives until something happens.
You don’t have to get out of your wheelchair to live a good life.
God gives His toughest challenges to His toughest soldiers.
Recipes
Beth Coffee, Hartford City, Indiana, Taste of Home: Southwestern Spaghetti
The Kitchn: 25 of Our Best Slow Cooker Recipes for Spring
Just the Recipe: Paste the URL to any recipe, click submit, and it’ll return literally JUST the recipe- no ads, no life story of the writer, no nothing EXCEPT the recipe.
DamnDelicious
RecipeTinEats
- Spinach French Onion Cob Dip – Australia’s favourite dip! June 19, 2026Meet Australia’s favourite dip!!! This Spinach French Onion Cob Dip is made using a French Onion Soup mix and is served in a cob bread loaf. It is unapologetically retro, gloriously unfashionable, breaks every real-food rule I preach, and is completely addictive!! Spinach French Onion Cob Dip This dip has been a fixture at Australian... […]Nagi
- Easy Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Beef June 16, 2026Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Beef is what you make when you want a big batch of crowd-pleasing food with relatively little effort. The succulent pulled beef is smothered in an incredible homemade barbecue sauce, and there’s so many ways to serve it – pile into sliders, heap onto plates or stuff into baked potatoes! Easy... […]Nagi
wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 21 June 21, 2026Picture of the day Bags of organic fertiliser adorn newly-planted fields against a backdrop of the Western Catchment in the Nilgiri mountains. Tamil Nadu, India
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 20 June 20, 2026Picture of the day Flower of a Geranium sanguineum, bloody crane's-bill. Focus stack of 51 photos.
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Welcome to the Stump the Bookseller blog!
Stump the Bookseller is a service offered by Loganberry Books to reconnect people to the books they love but can’t quite remember. In brief (for more detailed information see our About page), people can post their memories here, and the hivemind goes to work. After all, the collective mind of bibliophiles, readers, parents and librarians around the world is much better than just a few of us thinking. Together with these wonderful Stumper Magicians, we have a nearly 50% success rate in finding these long lost but treasured books. The more concrete the book description, the better the success rate, of course. It is a labor of love to keep it going, and there is a modest fee. Please see the How To page to find price information and details on how to submit your Book Stumper and payment.
Thanks to everyone involved to keep this forum going: our blogging team, the well-read Stumper Magicians, the many referrals, and of course to everyone who fondly remembers the wonder of books from their childhood and wants to share or revisit that wonder. Isn’t it amazing, the magic of a book?