On This Day
1025 – Constantine VIII becomes sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire, 63 years after being crowned co-emperor.[3]
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred in Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. The eastern half of the Empire survived the conditions that caused the fall of the West in the 5th century AD, and continued to exist until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire remained the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in the Mediterranean world. The term “Byzantine Empire” was only coined following the empire’s demise; its citizens referred to the polity as the “Roman Empire” and to themselves as “Romans”.[a] Due to the imperial seat’s move from Rome to Byzantium, the adoption of state Christianity, and the predominance of Greek instead of Latin, modern historians continue to make a distinction between the earlier Roman Empire and the later Byzantine Empire.
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Born On This Day
1242 – Prince Munetaka, Japanese shōgun (d. 1274)
Prince Munetaka (宗尊親王, Munetaka Shinnō, 15 December 1242 – 2 September 1274) was the sixth shōgun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan who reigned from 1252 to 1266.[1]
He was the first son of the Emperor Go-Saga and replaced the deposed Fujiwara no Yoritsugu as shōgun at the age of ten. He was a puppet ruler controlled by the Hōjō clan regents.
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FYI
NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day
EarthSky News
This Day in Tech History
This Day In History
Interesting Facts
Word Genius: Word of the Day
Wise Trivia
Marie-Madeleine Riffaud (23 August 1924 – 6 November 2024) was a French poet, journalist and war correspondent. She fought in the French Resistance during World War II. After World War II she reported on the Algerian War for the Communist newspaper L’Humanité, and then worked in Vietnam for the Viet Cong resistance for seven years.
Her first poetry collection, Le Poing Fermé (The Clenched Fist), including poems written in prison, was published in 1945. A memoir giving them context, On l’appelait Rainer (Called Rainer), appeared in 1994.
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By MessyNessy: 13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 722); The Portable Pocket “iPad” of Typewriters; Royal Gorge Route in 1951 (still running); When Photography on Fabrics was all the Rage in 1947; A guy who wrapped his brother’s present in cement…; A Brief Round-up of our favourite Kitsch-mas Cheer; The Grey Gardens of Los Angeles and more ->
By MessyNessy: 13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 721): An abandoned theatre in Portugal for sale; Watched Gladiator II yet? Check out this fascinating thread on the mysterious flora & fauna that were found growing in the ruins of the Colosseum.; An archaeologist’s 200-year-old note left on a French excavation site, discovered by students; How a 500 year old French chapel visited by Joan of Arc ended up on a Milwaukee University Campus; Madeleine Riffaud, hero of the French Resistance, has died at the age of 100.; The female firefighter uniform from the Achille Serre Ladies Fire Brigade in London, 1926; Tree FM — listen to random forests around the world.; Designing a 19th-Century Kindle: An E-Reader for Dickens; The Fascinating Origin of the Saying: Born with a silver spoon in the mouth and more ->
Nicholas Dawidoff, The Atlantic: How the Beatles Wrote ‘A Day in the Life’
Craig Medred: Frigid benefit
Craig Medred: Zero-sum fishery
Ouch~
Ben Shapiro: When a Rabbi’s Son Becomes a Christian
Ideas
By reeddyer1: Ice Lanterns
By nuevecuervos: Let’s Make Some Killer Plants!
Recipes
Taste of Home: Taste of Home Home Dishes & Beverages Stews Vegetable Stews Quick Italian Veggie Skillet
Food Talk Daily: 12 Great Ways to Eat Eggplant
By In The Kitchen With Matt: Easy Christmas Gnomes Brownie Bites
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
- Ultimate Christmas menu planning guide December 12, 2024Here’s a handy list of my Christmas recipes, organised by make-ahead and reheating suitability, and those best made fresh. Perfect for menu planning, especially alongside the new Christmas recipe index! I thrive on holiday menu planning. It’s like the Olympics of cooking – except less athleticism and more butter! The goal, as always, is a... […]Nagi
- Easy Christmas Cheesecake Slab – no bake! December 6, 2024This no bake Christmas cheesecake is designed for sizzling Aussie summers – no sweating over a hot oven! Designed to serve a crowd, it’s the easiest cheesecake recipe I know yet it still captures all the hallmarks of a beautiful classic baked cheesecake. Decorate with whipped cream, berries and rosemary sprigs for an effortless, pretty... […]Nagi
wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for December 16 December 16, 2024Picture of the day A foggy winter morning in Moulvibazar District, Bangladesh. Today is Victory Day in Bangladesh.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for December 15 December 15, 2024Picture of the day Jewish cemetery in Dülmen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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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?