On This Day
1776 – Empress Maria Theresa of Austria amends the Constitutio Criminalis Theresiana to include the abolition of torture throughout the Habsburg-ruled countries of Austria and Bohemia.[6]
The Constitutio Criminalis Theresiana (also Nemesis Theresiana or just Theresiana) was a penal code issued in 1768 by the Austrian ruler Maria Theresa (1717 – 1780). The penal code established a unified criminal law and criminal procedure law in the Habsburg-ruled countries of Austria and Bohemia. In Hungary, Belgium and Lombardy, however, the law did not apply.[1]
1521 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.[3]
Decet Romanum Pontificem (from Latin: “It Befits the Roman Pontiff”; 1521) is the papal bull that excommunicated the German theologian Martin Luther; its title comes from the first three Latin words of its text.[1] It was issued on 3 January 1521 by Pope Leo X to effect the excommunication threatened in his earlier papal bull, Exsurge Domine (1520), for Luther had failed to recant.[2] Luther had burned his copy of Exsurge Domine on 10 December 1520, at the Elster Gate in Wittenberg, to indicate his response.
1762 – Great Britain declares war on Spain, which meant the entry of Spain into the Seven Years’ War.[6]
The Seven Years’ War (1756–1763) was a global conflict involving most of the European great powers, fought primarily in Europe and the Americas. One of the opposing alliances was led by Great Britain and Prussia. The other alliance was led by France and Austria, backed by Spain, Saxony, Sweden, and Russia. The French and Indian War (1754–1763), the Anglo-Spanish War (1762–1763), and the Spanish–Portuguese War (1762–1763) were all parts of the Seven Years’ War.
Born On This Day
1509 – Henry of Stolberg, German nobleman (d. 1572)[43]
Count Henry of Stolberg (2 January 1509 – 12 November 1572 at Stolberg Castle) was a German nobleman.
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1698 – Pietro Metastasio, Italian poet and songwriter (d. 1782)[58]
Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpjɛːtro metaˈstaːzjo]), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti.
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659 – Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin (d.680)[47][48]
Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Sajjad (Arabic: علي بن الحسين السجاد, romanized: ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Sajjād, c. 658 – 712), also known as Zayn al-Abidin (Arabic: زين العابدين, romanized: Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn, lit. ’ornament of worshippers’) was the great-grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the fourth imam in Shia Islam, succeeding his father, Husayn ibn Ali, his uncle, Hasan ibn Ali, and his grandfather, Ali ibn Abi Talib.
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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
Associated Press: An orca that carried her dead calf for weeks in 2018 is doing so once again
By Colin Marshall, Open Culture: Laurie Anderson’s Mind-Blowing Performance of C. P. Cavafy’s Poems “Waiting for the Barbarians” & “Ithaca”
Open Culture: Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” Performed by a Choir of 4,000 Singers
Mia McPherson’s On The Wing Photography: One Beautiful Coyote At Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
Mia McPherson’s On The Wing Photography: Common Loon: The 2025 ABA Bird of the Year
World Atlas: 8 Most Unique Towns in the Pacific Northwest
By Melody Wilding ,Inc.: Beat Stress Like a Navy SEAL With This Ridiculously Easy Exercise Control your breath, rule the day.
Pinal County Sheriff’s Office: Sheriff Lamb’s Final Sign-Off
Joe Rogan Experience #2251 – Rick Perry & W. Bryan Hubbard
Jack CarrUSA: The State of the Union
Jocko Podcast 471: Better K-9s and Better Humans. With Mike Ritland
Cleared Hot Podcast: ISIS in America
Recipes
Simply Recipes: I Tried King Arthur’s 2025 Recipe of the Year—It Delivered Big Time
Taste of Home: 43 Low-Carb Soups to Warm Up with on Chilly Nights
Betty Crocker Kitchens: A New OREO Cookie Collab Is Here
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
- 2024 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 January 6 January 6, 2025Picture of the day La Joven Madre by Arturo Michelena, 1889
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for January 5 January 5, 2025Picture of the day Grand staircase of the Palais Garnier, an opera house in Paris, France that opened on this day 150 years ago.
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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.
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