On This Day
41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula.[1]
Claudius (/ˈklɔːdiəs/ KLAW-dee-əs; Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Drusus and Antonia Minor at Lugdunum in Roman Gaul, where his father was stationed as a military legate. He was the first Roman emperor to be born outside Italy. Nonetheless, Claudius was an Italic of Sabine origins.[5] Because he was afflicted with a limp and slight deafness due to sickness at a young age, he was ostracized by his family and was excluded from public office until his consulship (which was shared with his nephew, Caligula, in 37).
Claudius’s infirmity probably saved him from the fate of many other nobles during the purges during the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula as potential enemies did not see him as a serious threat. His survival led to him being declared emperor by the Praetorian Guard after Caligula’s assassination, at which point he was the last adult male of his family. Despite his lack of experience, Claudius proved to be an able and efficient administrator. He expanded the imperial bureaucracy to include freedmen, and helped to restore the empire’s finances after the excess of Caligula’s reign. He was also an ambitious builder, constructing many new roads, aqueducts, and canals across the Empire. During his reign the Empire started its successful conquest of Britain.
Having a personal interest in law, he presided at public trials, and issued up to twenty edicts a day. He was seen as vulnerable throughout his reign, particularly by elements of the nobility. Claudius was constantly forced to shore up his position, which resulted in the deaths of many senators. Those events damaged his reputation among the ancient writers, though more recent historians have revised that opinion. Many authors contend that he was murdered by his own wife, Agrippina the Younger. After his death at the age of 63, Nero, his grand-nephew and legally adopted step-son, succeeded him as emperor.
Born On This Day
1836 – Signe Rink, Greenland-born Danish writer and ethnologist (d. 1909)
Nathalie Sophia Nielsine Caroline Rink née Møller (24 January 1836 – 19 April 1909) was a Danish writer and ethnologist. Together with her husband Hinrich, she founded Greenland’s first newspaper, Atuagagdliutit, in 1861. She is credited as being the first woman to publish works on Greenland and its culture.[1][2]
Biography
Born on 24 January 1836 in Paamiut, Nathalie Sophia Nielsine Caroline Møller was the daughter of the Danish colonial administrator Jørgen Nielsen Møller (1801–62) and his wife Antonette Ernestine Constance Tommerup (1813–91). She was brought up in Greenland until about 1850 when she was sent to school in Denmark. When she was just 17, she married the Danish geographer and Greenland researcher Hinrich Rink. The couple lived in Greenland where Hinrich became government inspector in Nuuk. They associated with people such as the linguist Samuel Kleinschmidt and the educator Carl Janssen who were interested in the Greenlanders and their culture.[1]
In 1868, Rink left Greenland as her husband was suffering from poor health. They took with them a collection of illustrations of folk tales depicting the everyday lives of native Greenlanders created by Aron of Kangeq in which Signe Rink had taken a special interest. She later donated the collection to the National Museum of Denmark. Aron’s watercolours, which also formed an important part of the collection, were rediscovered in 1960 and transferred to the National Museum of Greenland.[3]
After first settling in Copenhagen, they moved to Kristiania in 1883. It was here that Signe Rink found time to write, publishing Grønlændere (1886), Grønlændere og Danske i Grønland (1887), Koloni-Idyller fra Grønland (1888) and Fra det Grønland der gik (1902).[1]
Signe Rink died in Oslo on 19 April 1909. She was survived by her only daughter.[1][4]
Publications
Several of Rink’s books and short stories are available in English. These include:
Rink, Signe (June 1898). “The Girl and the Dogs—an Eskimo folk-tale with comments”. American Anthropologist (6): 181–187. doi:10.1525/aa.1898.11.6.02a00030.
Rink, Signe (2014). Eden of the North. International Polar Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-9829155-6-1. – Translation of Koloni-Idyller fra Grønland (1888)
Rink, Signe (2016). Kayakmen: Tales of Greenland’s Seal Hunters. International Polar Institute. ISBN 978-0-9961938-4-9. – Translation of Kayakmænd (1896)
FYI
Author: Donesha Aldridge (11Alive), Madison Carter, 11 Alive: These are the names of about a dozen children who have died by suicide. There are thousands more. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that at least 3,600 children under the age of 13 died by suicide in the last two decades.
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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
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wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for December 21 December 21, 2024Picture of the day The Padum-Pibiting Road from Karsha to Padum (elevation 3,500 m (11,500 ft)) which is nestled at the base of the Zanskar range. The mountains of this Trans-Himalayan range tower 2,400 m (7,900 ft) above Padum. Zanskar, Ladakh, India.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for December 20 December 20, 2024Picture of the day Frost-covered lifebuoy attached to a dolphin, captured on Lake Siskiyou in Northern California
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