On This Day
475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire.[1]
Zeno (/ˈziːnoʊ/; Greek: Ζήνων, translit. Zénōn; c. 425 – 9 April 491) was Eastern Roman emperor from 474 to 475 and again from 476 to 491. Domestic revolts and religious dissension plagued his reign, which nevertheless succeeded to some extent in foreign issues. His reign saw the end of the Western Roman Empire following the deposition of Romulus Augustus and the death of Julius Nepos, but he was credited with contributing much to stabilising the Eastern Empire.
In ecclesiastical history, Zeno is associated with the Henotikon or “instrument of union”, promulgated by him and signed by all the Eastern bishops, with the design of solving the monophysite controversy. The Henotikon was widely unpopular and eventually abandoned under Justin I.
1547 – Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, is sentenced to death for treason, on the grounds of having quartered his arms to make them similar to those of the King, Henry VIII of England.[4]
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1516/1517 – 19 January 1547), KG, was an English nobleman, politician and poet. He was one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry and was the last known person executed at the instance of King Henry VIII. He was a first cousin of the king’s wives Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. His name is usually associated in literature with that of the poet Sir Thomas Wyatt. Owing largely to the powerful position of his father, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Surrey took a prominent part in the court life of the time, and served as a soldier both in France and Scotland. He was a man of reckless temper, which involved him in many quarrels, and finally brought upon him the wrath of the ageing and embittered Henry VIII. He was arrested, tried for treason and beheaded on Tower Hill.
Born On This Day
1483 – Henry III of Nassau-Breda (d. 1538)
Count Henry III of Nassau-Dillenburg-Dietz (12 January 1483, Siegen – 14 September 1538, Breda), Lord (from 1530 Baron) of Breda, Lord of the Lek, of Dietz, etc. was a count of the House of Nassau.
He was the son of Count John V of Nassau-Dillenburg and Elisabeth of Hesse-Marburg.[1] His younger brother was William I, Count of Nassau-Siegen (the father of William the Silent).
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101 – Lucius Aelius, Roman adopted son of Hadrian (d. 138)
Lucius Aelius Caesar (13 January 101 – 1 January 138) was the father of Emperor Lucius Verus. In 136, he was adopted by Hadrian and named heir to the throne. He died before Hadrian and thus never became emperor. After Lucius’ death, he was replaced by Antoninus Pius, who succeeded Hadrian the same year.
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FYI
NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day
This Day in Tech History
Interesting Facts
Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English guitarist who rose to prominence as a member of the rock band the Yardbirds and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to an instrumental style of music with focus on an innovative sound, and his releases spanned genres and styles ranging from blues rock, hard rock, jazz fusion and a blend of guitar-rock and electronica.
Beck was ranked in the top five of Rolling Stone and other magazines’ lists rankings of the greatest guitarists.[4][5][6] He was often called a “guitarist’s guitarist”.[7] Rolling Stone described him as “one of the most influential lead guitarists in rock”.[8] Although he recorded two successful albums (in 1975 and 1976) as a solo act, Beck did not establish or maintain the sustained commercial success of many of his contemporaries and bandmates.[7][3] He recorded with many artists.[9]
Beck earned wide critical praise and received the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance six times and Best Pop Instrumental Performance once. In 2014, he received the British Academy’s Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.[10] He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: first as a member of the Yardbirds (1992) and secondly as a solo artist (2009).
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Jeff Beck and ZZ Top – Ernie Ford’s SIXTEEN TONS
James Clear: 3-2-1: The responsibility of any creator, leadership, and how to succeed
Just A Car Guy: Scotland names its entire snowplow fleet and posts maps showing their locations.
By John Walton, CNN: Why reclining seats are vanishing from airplanes
By Barr Memorial Library: Journalist Matthew Black to remotely talk about WWII book at Feb. 8 virtual Authors at Your Library event
Fireside Books: Pico Iyer’s ‘The Half Known Life’; Julia Cameron on How to ‘Write for Life’ and more ->
Joe Bartozzi -NSSF President and CEO | BRCC Podcast Ep 245
Mike Glover Actual: Was it really an accident? FAA Outage | My Prepped Life
Recipes
Homemade on a Weeknight: Cajun Sheet Pan Dinner
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.
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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 16 June 16, 2026Picture of the day View of Kirchberg an der Jagst, Germany, from the river Jagst. At the right the listed bridge, build in 1779; behind it the hill which supports Kirchberg Castle (top) and the old town of Kirchberg.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 15 June 15, 2026Picture of the day Mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei), Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda
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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?