On This Day
1699 – Guru Gobind Singh establishes the Khalsa in Anandpur Sahib, Punjab.[3]
Khalsa (Punjabi: ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, Punjabi pronunciation: [ˈxaːlsaː], “To be pure, to be clear, to be free from, to be liberated”) refers to both a community that considers Sikhism as its faith,[6] as well as a special group of initiated Sikhs.[7] The Khalsa tradition was initiated in 1699 by the Tenth Guru of Sikhism, Guru Gobind Singh. Its formation was a key event in the history of Sikhism.[8] The founding of Khalsa is celebrated by Sikhs during the festival of Vaisakhi.[9][10][11]
Guru Gobind Singh started the Khalsa tradition after his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was beheaded during the Islamic sharia rule of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.[12][13][14] Guru Gobind Singh created and initiated the Khalsa as a warrior with a duty to protect the innocent from any form of religious persecution.[15] The founding of the Khalsa started a new phase in the Sikh tradition. It formulated an initiation ceremony (amrit sanskar, nectar ceremony) and rules of conduct for the Khalsa warriors. It created a new institution for the temporal leadership of the Sikhs, replacing the earlier masand system. Additionally, the Khalsa provided a political and religious vision for the Sikh community.[6][16][17]: 127
Upon initiation, a Khalsa Sikh was given the titles of Singh (male) meaning lion and Kaur (female) meaning princess. The rules of life, included behavioral code (Rahit, such as no tobacco, no intoxicants, no adultery, no Kutha meat), no modification of hair on the body, and a dress code (Five Ks).[17]: 121–126
Born On This Day
1863 – Mary Calkins, American philosopher and psychologist (d. 1930)
Mary Whiton Calkins (/ˈkɔːlkɪnz, ˈkæl-/; 30 March 1863 – 26 February 1930[1]) was an American philosopher and psychologist, whose work informed theory and research of memory, dreams and the self. In 1903, Calkins was the twelfth in a listing of fifty psychologists with the most merit, chosen by her peers. Calkins was refused a Ph.D. by Harvard University because of her gender.
Calkins is a key figure in the history of women psychologists. At Wellesley College, Calkins established the first psychological laboratory for women. She was the first woman to complete the requirements for a doctoral degree in psychology with the unanimous support of the Harvard University psychology faculty, although the University refused to bestow it on the grounds that Harvard did not accept women. She later became president of the American Psychological Association and the American Philosophical Association, and was the first woman to be president of both.
She taught psychology and philosophy at Wellesley College for four decades, and conducted research there and at Harvard University for the majority of that time.
FYI
NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day
Reusable sporks?
By Ernie Smith, Tedium: Utensil Fandom Why do utensils start and end with the knife, fork, and spoon? Let’s highlight a few attempts over the years to create utensils that think outside of the plate.
11 Alive: Bruce Willis diagnosed with aphasia, ‘stepping away’ from acting career The family of Bruce Willis revealed the acclaimed actor has been diagnosed with a condition that is ‘impacting his cognitive abilities.’
Al Cross and Heather Chapman at The Rural Blog: Lee cuts jobs following takeover bid, boosts executive compensation amid lackluster revenue NewsGuild objects; New interactive map shows county-level data on uptake of emergency pandemic benefit for broadband access and more ->
By Patrick Glendon McCullough, Truly*Adventurous: The House of Lost Souls When a down-and-out doctor finds his rundown mansion is haunted, he pulls the quintessentially American move: opening the house to the public for a fee. Everything goes wrong from there.
By Rahul Rao, Popular Science: You’ve probably never heard of terahertz waves, but they could change your life Welcome to the electromagnetic dark zone.
By Santiago Ramon, MIT Press Reader: The Most Important Scientific Problems Have Yet to Be Solved If certain areas of science appear to be quite mature, others are in the process of development, and yet others remain to be born.
Courtesy of Henrik Edberg The Positivity Blog: How to Stop Being a People Pleaser: 7 Powerful Habits
I would be hesitant to offer my face…
NSFW
Jeremy W. Peters of the New York Times joins the show to discuss his new book on Donald Trump’s election and presidency, ‘Insurgency: How Republicans Lost Their Party and Got Everything They Ever Wanted’.
Recipes
By Karly Campbell, Betty Crocker Kitchens: One-Pot French Onion Soup Rice Skillet
Taste of Home: Top 10 Famous Easter Desserts
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
- 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
- Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel June 12, 2026Firstly, thank you for the Jaffle love. 🥰 Hit the Jaffle button above to see what he got up to today! Secondly – cake. Specifically, Coffee Cake! A classic crumb cake with a jammy cinnamon ribbon, loaded with lots and lots of nubbly, extra crunchy cinnamon streusel. Outrageously good. Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel This... […]Nagi
wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 18 June 18, 2026Picture of the day Red-headed weaver (Anaplectes rubriceps leuconotus) male building nest in the Soysambu Conservancy, Kenya.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 17 June 17, 2026Picture of the day Lt. Col. Nick Rutgers preparing his F-15 Eagle for flight
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