On This Day
1268 – The Battle of Wesenberg is fought between the Livonian Order and Dovmont of Pskov.[2]
The Battle of Wesenberg, Rakvere or Rakovor was a battle fought on 18 February 1268 between the combined forces of Danish Duchy of Estonia, Bishopric of Dorpat, Livonian branch of the Teutonic Knights, and local Estonian militia on one side and the forces of Novgorod and Pskov, led by Dmitry of Pereslavl, on the other. Medieval accounts of the battle vary with both sides claiming victory, however the Livonian victory being more plausible as Novgorodian-Pskovian forces retreated out of Danish Estonia, with Livonian Knights launching a retaliatory attack on Izborsk and Pskov soon afterward, in June 1269.[2]: 78–79
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Born On This Day
1201 – Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Persian scientist and writer (d. 1274)
Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Tūsī (Persian: محمد ابن محمد ابن حسن طوسی 18 February 1201 – 26 June 1274), better known as Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (Persian: نصیر الدین طوسی; or simply Tusi /ˈtuːsi/[4] in the West), was a Persian polymath, architect, philosopher, physician, scientist, and theologian.[5] Nasir al-Din al-Tusi was a well published author, writing on subjects of math, engineering, prose, and mysticism. Additionally, al-Tusi made several scientific advancements. In astronomy, al-Tusi created very accurate tables of planetary motion, an updated planetary model, and critiques of Ptolemaic astronomy. He also made strides in logic, mathematics but especially trigonometry, biology, and chemistry. Nasir al-Din al-Tusi left behind a great legacy as well. Tusi is widely regarded as one of the greatest scientists of medieval Islam,[6] since he is often considered the creator of trigonometry as a mathematical discipline in its own right.[7][8][9] The Muslim scholar Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) considered Tusi to be the greatest of the later Persian scholars.[10] There is also reason to believe that he may have influenced Copernican heliocentrism.[11][12][13][14][15][16] Nasir proposed that humans are related to animals and that some animals have a limited level of awareness while humans have a superior level of awareness amongst animals. He also framed a very basic evolutionary theory (though markedly different from modern evolutionary theory).[17]
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FYI
NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day
This Day in Tech History
Interesting Facts
Word Genius: Word of the Day
By Greg Milner, Bloomberg Business Week: Nobody Knows What Lies Beneath New York City Subterranean cartographers are bringing to light the dark, tangled truths buried under the streets.
By April Fulton, NPR: Here’s why you should make a habit of having more fun
By Ernie Smith, Tedium: Old Archives, New Controversy The New York Times has the most robust online archives of any newspaper, but it’s proving difficult to square their handling of a recent controversy with the quality of those archives.
By Ernie Smith, Tedium: A Layer of Gloss Tedium is slowly working on its glossary over the next year, taking time to develop definitions for the literally thousands of things it’s discussed since 2015. Today’s starting point? Software.
By Ernie Smith, Tedium: AI, Minus the Hype Perhaps you’ve heard a thing or ten about generative AI stuff like ChatGPT. Should you care? Let’s have a (relatively) normal person explain it to you.
Recipes
By Nncy C., Food Talk Daily: Yummy Vegetable Pasta
Homemade on a Weeknight: Pancake Tacos
By Betty Crocker Kitchens: 8 Super-Easy Snacks Kids Can Make Themselves
By Recipe Round-ups, Food Talk Daily: 10 Recipes That A Picky Eater Will HATE (And Everyone Else Will Love)
By Reesa @ Mommalew.com, Food Talk Daily: How to Make Easy Bisquick Cupcakes
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
- Bruschetta summer pasta salad January 7, 2025This summer pasta salad is everything you want when it’s too hot to cook! Quick, nearly no cook (just boil pasta) and full of bright, fresh, bruschetta-inspired tomato flavours. Also – a useful tip for how to store basil that actually really, truly works! Bruschetta summer pasta salad Every Christmas break, I have intentions of... […]Nagi
- How to store basil January 7, 2025After trying every which way to store basil so it doesn’t turn brown within a day of buying it, I’ve finally learnt how to store basil so it stays perky, green and fresh for over a week. Just stick it in a jar of water and keep it on the counter. That’s right – not... […]Nagi
wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for January 9 January 9, 2025Picture of the day Art installation “Himmelsleiter” (Billi Thanner) on the tower of St. Lambert's Church in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, GermanyThe artwork came from St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna to St. Lambert's Church in Münster in September 2022. It remained there until March 2024 and has been on display at Saint-Eustache Church in Paris since […]
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for January 8 January 8, 2025Picture of the day The view of Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View in Yosemite National Park, California, United States
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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.
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