On This Day
775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate. Muslim control over the South Caucasus is solidified and its Islamization begins, while several major Armenian nakharar families lose power and their remnants flee to the Byzantine Empire.
The Battle of Bagrevand was fought on 25 April 775, in the plains of Bagrevand, between the forces of the Armenian princes who had rebelled against the Abbasid Caliphate and the caliphal army. The battle resulted in a crushing Abbasid victory, with the death of the main Armenian leaders. The Mamikonian family’s power in particular was almost extinguished. The battle signalled the beginning of large-scale Armenian migration into the Byzantine Empire.[1]
Born On This Day
1892 – Maud Hart Lovelace, American author (d. 1980)
Maud Hart Lovelace (April 25, 1892 – March 11, 1980) was an American author best known for the Betsy-Tacy series.
The Betsy-Tacy books are a series of semi-autobiographical novels by American novelist and short-story writer Maud Hart Lovelace (1892-1980), which were originally published between 1940 and 1955 by the Thomas Y. Crowell Co. The books are now published by HarperCollins.[1] The first four books were illustrated by Lois Lenski and the remainder by Vera Neville.
The series follows the adventures of heroine Betsy Ray, who is based closely on the author, and her friends and family. The first book, Betsy-Tacy, begins in 1897 on the eve of Betsy’s fifth birthday, and the last book, Betsy’s Wedding, ends in 1917 as the United States prepares to enter the First World War.
FYI
NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day
Rare Historical Photos: Behind the scenes photos from the iconic film ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’, 1966
Soundtrack rocks!
By Cory Max Montoya, Beyond Bylines Blogs We Love: 4 Mom Vloggers to Start Following This Mother’s Day
By MessyNessy Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DXCX): Incredibly Detailed Illustrations of our favourite small Parisian museums & archives; This gilded astronomical tool kit from 1557; A Zero Waste Restaurant in Estonia and more ->
By Molly Parker, The Southern Illinoisan, Pro Publica: What We Lose When We Conflate Child “Abuse” and “Neglect”
By Derek Thompson, Work In Progress, The Atlantic: Why Americans Are Leaving Downtowns in Droves The rise of remote work has snipped the tether between home and office, allowing many white-collar workers to move out of high-cost cities.
Wickersham’s Conscience: Some Shorebirds are Even Harder
Wickersham’s Conscience: Return of Bird of the Week: Orange-breasted Trogon
Al Cross and Heather Chapman at The Rural Blog: Small Ark. community weekly wins Nieman Foundation’s Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Journalism; rural bankers predict economic downturn …
By Sam Howell The Dodo: Why Do Dogs Get Scared Of Their Own Farts? 3 Reasons Passing Gas Spooks Them Farts can be sooo scary for dogs sometimes
Recipes
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 17 June 17, 2026Picture of the day Lt. Col. Nick Rutgers preparing his F-15 Eagle for flight
- 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.
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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?