On This Day
681 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain.[1]
The Twelfth Council of Toledo, held in Toledo, Spain, was initiated on 9 January 681 by the Visigothic King Erwig, who was elected king in 680. One of its first actions was to release the population from the laws of Wamba and recognise Erwig, anathematising all who opposed him.
The Council was attended by thirty eight bishops, four abbots, and five palatine officials. It recognised the right of the metropolitan archbishop of Toledo to consecrate all bishops appointed by the king, even if they were outside his own province. Thus was born the primacy of the Toledan diocese over all Spain.
The council implemented various measures against the Jews, enacting against them twenty-eight laws. The bishops ordered the reading in all the churches of the canons against the Jews and conserved all acts of abjuration and conversion of Jews, prohibiting conversos from returning to Judaism. The canons were first read in the church of Santa María in Toledo on 27 January. Otherwise, the persecution of Jews was isolated to confiscation of goods.
The council, at the request of Erwig, revised the Forum Iudicum of Reccesuinth to right perceived injustices and contradictions. The revised law came into effect on 21 October. Laws against violence to slaves were suppressed. The general trend of all modifications and new legislation was in favour of the nobles and their privileges.
In religious matters, the bishops dealt with penance, death, excommunication, the number of sees, the election of bishops, the mass, and clerical discipline. The nomination of bishops by the kings was forbidden (despite tacit recognition of it in fact). The date of provincial synods was fixed on 1 November every year. The previous date had been in May, since the Fourth Council. The provinces were ordered to hold at least one synod each year. The church of Galicia was sanctioned in its treatment of slaves (see Tenth Council of Toledo) and the extant paganism of the province condemned.
The short council terminated on 25 January.
Born On This Day
727 – Emperor Daizong of Tang (d. 779)
Emperor Daizong of Tang (9 January 727 [3] – 10 June 779[4]), personal name Li Yu (name changed in 758 after being created crown prince), né Li Chu (Chinese: 李俶), was an emperor of the Chinese Tang Dynasty.
Emperor Daizong was the eldest son of Emperor Suzong – the first Emperor of the Tang dynasty to succeed as the eldest child, and during the Anshi Rebellion (which Emperor Suzong’s entire reign was dedicated to fighting), he served as a general of Tang and Huige joint operations that recaptured the capital Chang’an and the eastern capital Luoyang from the rebel state of Yan, and the Anshi Rebellion was finally put down early in his own reign, in 763. However, thereafter, the Tang state was plagued by warlords such as Tian Chengsi, Li Baochen, and Liang Chongyi who essentially governed their realms as independent states while only pledging nominal loyalty to the emperor. This would prove disastrous for future generations as subsequent Tang emperors were unable to remove or control these warlords and the central government’s power was thus slowly eroded and diminished. The power of the warlords would not prevent the Tang western territories from being overrun by Tibetan invasions and eventually lost to the Tibetan Empire, which even managed to capture Chang’an in 763 for a short period before being expelled.
Emperor Daizong was credited for removing the corrupt eunuch Li Fuguo, who had placed him on the throne, from power, but the rest of Emperor Daizong’s reign would also see dominance by such individuals as the eunuchs Cheng Yuanzhen and Yu Chao’en, as well as the chancellor Yuan Zai. It is also worth noting that Emperor Daizong became the first Tang emperor to succeed to the throne as a result of maneuvers by eunuchs. Emperor Daizong was himself also said to be overly devout in Buddhism.
Read more ->
FYI
NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day
This Day in Tech History
Merril Wien was a top-notch act, a first-class gentleman. He had an amazing life, born to a legend who carried on his father’s love of flying. He will be greatly missed. Prayers for comfort for the Wien Family.
MERRIL WIEN OBITUARY
On Sunday, January 8th, 2023, notable Alaskan pilot Merrill Wien, a loving husband, father and grandfather passed away at age 92 with his family at his side.
Merrill was born on April 4th, 1930 to Noel and Ada Wien and into a famous flying family in Alaska. Merrill inherited the love of aviation and had a career that spanned the post war period in Alaska. He flew round engine 1930s-era bush planes, WWII trainers, bombers and transports in the Air Force, and airliners later as a pilot for Pan Am and Wien Air Alaska. He ushered in the jet age to the 49th state and later flew wide-body aircraft all around the world.
Merrill embraced all of aviation. To fly was what he wanted to do ever since the days of sitting in his classroom and watching airplanes land at Weeks Field in Fairbanks. He could hardly wait for school to get out so he could run to the airport. By the time he was 16, he even had the opportunity to fly borrowed airplanes on his lunch break. Merrill’s days of flying for a living couldn’t come soon enough.
And quickly it did. While taking a break from flying for Wien to attend the University of Washington in his early 20s, Merrill was asked if he’d like to fly for Pan Am out of Seattle. He jumped at the chance, even though he knew he could be drafted now that he wasn’t in school. Soon he found himself flying in the 4-engine DC-4 on trips to Hawaii. He thought it couldn’t get better. It wouldn’t last long though.
While at Pan Am, Merrill was drafted into the Army for the Korean War. He wanted to fly, so he enlisted in the Air Force. Because he was two weeks short of his degree, he wasn’t eligible for flight training, even though he had been flying commercially in large transport category airplanes. He eventually found a way into the cockpit and went through Air Force primary training and eventually found himself as an aircraft commander in the C-119 Flying Boxcar in a top secret reconnaissance effort to photograph Russia. It turned out to be a harrowing assignment––catching balloons out of the air and from the water using a hook from the back of the airplanes. Those years in the military turned out to be some of the most difficult flying of his career.
After getting out of the service, Merrill had offers to come back to either Pan Am or work at the airline his father had started. He chose to stay in Alaska and fly for Wien, with his original 1950 date of hire. Flying for Wien would continue the adventure as he found himself occasionally landing a DC-4 on ice islands just shy of the North Pole instead of the tropical islands of Hawaii.
He never regretted his decision to return to Wien and
he loved also flying the DC-3, C-46, Lockheed Constellation and Fokker F-27 out of Fairbanks and then the Boeing 737 and 727 from Anchorage and Seattle well into the 1980s before the airline was liquidated by a corporate raider.
While at Wien, he and his brother saw an opportunity to use B-25’s to fight forest fires and shortly after brought helicopters in their operation. They along with Doug Millard and Stan Halverson started the company called Merric and built it into a successful service for the state before they merged with Era Helicopters.
Merrill finished his airline career with a charter company operating the Lockheed L-1011, an airplane he thoroughly enjoyed even though the long-haul flying to Europe, the Middle East and Asia took a toll on him.
Upon reaching the mandatory retirement age for the airlines, he went to work for his friend Lowell Thomas Jr., offering sightseeing flights over Denali, as well as working as a test pilot for the Soloy Corporation in Olympia, Washington. Later Merrill flew freight in a C-46 out of Fairbanks for Evert’s Air Cargo as a ‘retirement job.’
His hobby on days off usually involved flying of some sort. He took the family on fishing trips out of Anchorage, and over the years acquired a number of WWII aircraft and brought them back to active flying status including two B-25s, a T-6, P-38, Stearman and Grumman Widgeon. Merrill also volunteered as an instructor pilot with the Commemorative Air Force, flying their B-29, “FiFi” to airshows across the country for 7 years and performing check rides for other pilots in all types of warbirds as a designated FAA examiner. Merrill also became involved in the flying community in the Seattle area where he and his wife Barbara have lived since the mid 1980’s. He managed to complete his career with many thousands of hours of accident free flying.
On the first page of his book Born to Fly, Wien says, “I never went looking for adventure, but my early interest in flying brought adventure to me. I suppose I was somewhat destined to become a pilot.”
Recently he said, “I’ve had a wonderful and full life—don’t be sad when I go.”
Merrill and former wife, Kathy had three children, Kimberlee, Kurt and Kent while living in Fairbanks and then Anchorage. Later Merrill married his current spouse, Barbara and helped raise her two children Eric Guina and Suzanne Guina Sagiao. They were married in Seattle and have been together for forty years.
He is survived by his wife Barbara, his brother Richard and his wife Sally as well as his five children, six grand children and his nieces Dona, Robyn, Kelly and Leslie and nephew Loren. He was preceded in death by his parents Noel and Ada, sister Jean and nephew Michael.
A celebration of his life is planned for later this spring in Seattle.
Lens Culture: Black and White Photography Awards
By Emma Beddington, The Guardian: 52 acts of kindness: how to spread joy in every week of 2023
The Home Depot Theme except it’s a rap song…
I’m talkin’ propane on the gas grill
Open flame, hold the pan still
And flannel, it’s plaid, still
Never question the dad skill
I’m in the backyard
Tool belt, big truck, and a backpack
Workin’ on a house and I flip it like a flapjack
Phillips head, with a tread, hammer with a napsack
Got a creak in the knees, even got a bad back
Never back-track; two measure, one cut
Got a big beam, bolts, and a lug nut
Screws and a tool kit, thinking of what does what
Hit ’em with a sport when I’m beating them at putt-putt
(Hey, sport!)
Shawn Ryan Show: Solbere – The Scientific Solution to the Carbon Footprint | SRS #044
Ideas
By Yvette M.: Wooden Entryway Shoe Rack
Recipes
By Creative Mom CZ: Poppy Seed Breakfast Rolls
By Carolyn Lewis, Taste of Home: 60 Simple Dinner Ideas with 5 Ingredients (or Less!)
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
- 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
- Introducing Jaffle! June 10, 2026Meet Jaffle! Future Chief Taste Tester. Son of a Dozer friend. A little bundle of golden, fluffy joy! 48 hours of instant happiness I didn’t expect to get a new puppy so soon after saying goodbye to Dozer. To be honest, I wasn’t sure when I’d be ready. And I had it in my head... […]Nagi
wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 14 June 14, 2026Picture of the day Wulfenite crystals with calcite, found in the Erupción Mine, Sierra de Los Lamentos, Ahumada Municipality, Chihuahua, Mexico.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 13 June 13, 2026Picture of the day An image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on a stained-glass window located in a church in St. Peters, Missouri. Today is the feast day of the Immaculate Heart in the Roman Catholic Church.
E-book Deals:
The Book Junction: Where Readers Go To Discover Great New Fiction!
Mystery & Thriller Most Wanted
Book Blogs & Websites:
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?