On This Day
881 – Battle of Saucourt-en-Vimeu: Louis III of France defeats the Vikings, an event celebrated in the poem Ludwigslied.
The Ludwigslied (in English, Lay or Song of Ludwig) is an Old High German (OHG) poem of 59 rhyming couplets, celebrating the victory of the Frankish army, led by Louis III of France, over Danish (Viking) raiders at the Battle of Saucourt-en-Vimeu on 3 August 881.
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1578 – Battle of Al Kasr al Kebir: The Moroccans defeat the Portuguese. King Sebastian of Portugal is killed in the battle, leaving his elderly uncle, Cardinal Henry, as his heir. This initiates a succession crisis in Portugal.
The Battle of Alcácer Quibir (also known as “Battle of Three Kings” (Arabic: معركة الملوك الثلاثة) or “Battle of Wadi al-Makhazin” (Arabic: معركة وادي المخازن) in Morocco) was fought in northern Morocco, near the town of Ksar-el-Kebir (variant spellings: Ksar El Kebir, Alcácer-Quivir, Alcazarquivir, Alcassar, etc.) and Larache, on 4 August 1578.
Born On This Day
1486 – Imperia Cognati, Italian courtesan (d. 1512)
Imperia Cognati (also called Imperia La Divina, meaning Imperia The Divine, or The Queen of Courtesans, 3 August 1486 – 15 August 1512[1]), was a Roman courtesan. She has been considered the first celebrity of the class of courtesans, which was created in Rome in the late 15th century.
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1290 – Leopold I, Duke of Austria (d. 1326)
Leopold I (c. 1290 – 28 February 1326),[1] called The Glorious, was Duke of Austria and Styria – as co-ruler with his elder brother Frederick the Fair – from 1308 until his death. A member of the House of Habsburg, he was the third son of Albert I of Germany and Elisabeth of Gorizia-Tyrol, a scion of the Meinhardiner dynasty.
FYI
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This Day in Tech History
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Interesting Facts
Word Genius: Word of the Day
Wickersham’s Conscience: Pick a Pair of Pika
Wickersham’s Conscience: Return of Bird of the Week: Yellow-billed Tern
By Matt Soniak, Mental Floss: How Did the Duck Hunt Gun Work?
The Duck Hunt gun, officially called the NES Zapper, seems downright primitive next to today’s technology. But in the late ’80s, it filled plenty of young heads with wonder.
By Cara J Suppa, The Takeout: Dairy Queen’s Soft Serve Isn’t What You Think It Is
By Tommy Trenchard, NPR Goats and Soda: Dear rat, did you ever know that you’re my hero?
In this episode, we will discuss the newest operating system watchOS 11. watchOS11 brings powerful health and fitness insights, and even more personalization. Apple is introducing the Vitals app, training load, pregnancy health and new ways to tailor Activity rings. We will discuss these and more. You can follow the Mac Minutes Podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite pod catcher. Please leave us a review. Thank you for listening.
Rock Feed: Aerosmith Announces Retirement in Heartbreaking Statement
Fun!!
Maria Shriver: This video makes me want to dance!🕺
Colion Noir: Armed Citizen Takes On 5 Car Jackers At Wisconsin Gas Station
Ideas
By Sokamon: Rainbow Butterfly Wings
By Oscar-AliB: Bi-Generator Vertical Wind Turbine Device
By Maker Dad DIY: DIY: Building a Home Office/Shed From Scratch
Recipes
By Ashley Day, Food & Wine: 17 Recipes That Channel the Flavors of Hawai’i
BottledSquids: Naturally Dyed Roasted Red Beet Ravioli
By Bublisworldcuisine: Fried Chicken Recipe
By Ali Slagle, New York Times Cooking: Slow-Cooker BBQ Pulled Chicken
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
- Spinach French Onion Cob Dip – Australia’s favourite dip! June 19, 2026Meet Australia’s favourite dip!!! This Spinach French Onion Cob Dip is made using a French Onion Soup mix and is served in a cob bread loaf. It is unapologetically retro, gloriously unfashionable, breaks every real-food rule I preach, and is completely addictive!! Spinach French Onion Cob Dip This dip has been a fixture at Australian... […]Nagi
- 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
wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 20 June 20, 2026Picture of the day Flower of a Geranium sanguineum, bloody crane's-bill. Focus stack of 51 photos.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 19 June 19, 2026Picture of the day Alley on Escheckstraße (and part of the cuckoo clock trail), Schönwald im Schwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, 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?