On This Day
452 or 453 – Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, is martyred in Palestine.[1]
Saint Severian or Severianus (died in late 452 or early 453; officially on 21 February 453) was bishop of Scythopolis in Palestine. He was martyred and is considered a saint. His feast day is 21 February.
1744 – War of the Austrian Succession: The Battle of Toulon causes several Royal Navy captains to be court-martialed, and the Articles of War to be amended.[8]
The Battle of Toulon, also known as the Battle of Cape Sicié, took place between 21 and 22 February 1744 NS[a] near the French Mediterranean port of Toulon. Although France was not yet at war with the United Kingdom of Great Britain, ships from their Levant Fleet sailed out to support a Spanish fleet, which was attempting to break through a two-year-old British naval blockade.
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1763 – Berbice slave uprising in Guyana: The first major slave revolt in South America.[6][7]
The Berbice slave uprising was a slave revolt in Guyana[3] that began on 23 February 1763[2] and lasted to December, with leaders including Coffy. The first major slave revolt in South America,[4] it is seen as a major event in Guyana’s anti-colonial struggles, and when Guyana became a republic in 1970 the state declared 23 February as a day to commemorate the start of the Berbice slave revolt.[2]
1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence.[2]
The Battle of Roslin on 24 February 1303 was a Scottish victory in the First War of Scottish Independence. It took place near the village of Roslin, where a force led by the Scots John Comyn and Sir Simon Fraser ambushed and defeated an English reconnaissance party under Lord John Segrave.[2]
1843 – Lord George Paulet occupies the Kingdom of Hawaii in the name of Great Britain in the Paulet affair.[5]
The Paulet affair, also known as British Hawaii, was the unofficial five-month 1843 occupation of the Hawaiian Islands by British naval officer Captain Lord George Paulet, of HMS Carysfort. It was ended by the arrival of American warships sent to defend Hawaii’s independence. The British government in London did not authorize the move and it had no official status.
Born On This Day
1462 – Joanna la Beltraneja, princess of Castile (d. 1530)
Joanna of Castile, known as la Beltraneja (28 February 1462 – 12 April 1530), was a claimant to the throne of Castile, and Queen of Portugal as the wife of King Afonso V, her uncle.
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1403 – Charles VII of France (d. 1461)[53]
Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious (French: le Victorieux)[1] or the Well-Served (le Bien-Servi), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461. His reign saw the end of the Hundred Years’ War and a de facto end of the English claims to the French throne.
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1417 – Pope Paul II (d. 1471)[21]
Pope Paul II (Latin: Paulus II; Italian: Paolo II; 23 February 1417 – 26 July 1471),[1] born Pietro Barbo, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 August 1464 to his death. When his maternal uncle became Pope Eugene IV, Barbo switched from training to be a merchant to religious studies. His rise in the Church was relatively rapid. Elected pope in 1464, Paul amassed a great collection of art and antiquities.
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1413 – Louis, Duke of Savoy (d. 1465)
Ludovico I or Louis I (Italian: Lodovico; 24 February 1413 – 29 January 1465) was Duke of Savoy from 1440 until his death in 1465.
1337 – Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1383)[27]
Wenceslaus I (also Wenceslas, Venceslas, Wenzel, or Václav, often called Wenceslaus of Bohemia in chronicles) (25 February 1337 – 7 December 1383) was the first Duke of Luxembourg from 1354. He was the son of John the Blind, King of Bohemia, and Beatrice of Bourbon.[1]
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Veronica Loretta “Roni” Stoneman (May 5, 1938 – February 22, 2024) was an American bluegrass banjo player[1] and comedian widely known as a cast member on the country music show Hee Haw. She was the youngest daughter of Ernest V. “Pop” Stoneman, patriarch of the Stoneman Family, one of the most famous family groups in early country music.
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And sometimes as I am rushing from task to task,
Another load of laundry, a quick vacuum of the bedroom,
I see you sleeping peacefully,
And the gray in your muzzle and sprinkled around your eyes,
Makes my heart skip a beat, and I stop,
And I need to kneel down, and smooth your velvet ears and kiss your face,
And your eyes open, and your tail thumps a steady beat on the floor,
Righting the beat of my heart to match its rhythm,
And I whisper to you; slow down my friend, don’t age too fast,
And I slow down, and lie on the floor beside you,
For these moments are precious,
And I will not rush through the time I have with you.
—Joanne L Barros
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Lucas Reilly, Mental Floss Why Alaska Is Home to America’s Easternmost Point
Breaking down a geographical technicality.
In the contiguous United States, the farthest east anyone can travel without tripping into the ocean is the lighthouse at West Quoddy Head, Maine (coordinates: 44.815ºN 66.951ºW). But this beautiful spot at the northeastern tip of the Pine Tree State is not actually the easternmost point of the United States. That designation belongs, curiously, to a state that is considered part of America’s west—Alaska.
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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
- 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
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- 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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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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