On This Day
997 – Battle of Spercheios: Bulgarian forces of Tsar Samuel are defeated by a Byzantine army under general Nikephoros Ouranos at the Spercheios River in Greece.
The Battle of Spercheios (Bulgarian: Битка при Сперхей, Greek: Μάχη του Σπερχειού) took place in 997 AD, on the shores of the Spercheios river near the city of Lamia in central Greece. It was fought between a Bulgarian army led by Tsar Samuil, which in the previous year had penetrated south into Greece, and a Byzantine army under the command of General Nikephoros Ouranos.[1] The Byzantine victory virtually destroyed the Bulgarian army, and ended its raids in the southern Balkans and Greece. The major historical source on the battle comes from Greek historian John Skylitzes whose Synopsis of Histories (Σύνοψις Ἱστοριῶν) contains a biography of the then-reigning Byzantine emperor, Basil II.
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1762 – Former emperor Peter III of Russia is murdered.
Peter III Fyodorovich (Russian: Пётр III Фёдорович, romanized: Pyotr III Fyodorovich; 21 February [O.S. 10 February] 1728 – 17 July [O.S. 6 July] 1762) was Emperor of Russia from 5 January 1762 until 9 July of the same year, when he was overthrown by his wife, Catherine II (the Great). He was born in the German city of Kiel as Charles Peter Ulrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp (German: Karl Peter Ulrich von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp), but he was a grandson of Peter the Great and a great-grandson of Charles XI of Sweden.
Born On This Day
1194 – Clare of Assisi, Italian nun and saint (d. 1253)
Chiara Offreduccio (16 July 1194 – 11 August 1253), known as Clare of Assisi (sometimes spelled Clara, Clair or Claire; Italian: Chiara d’Assisi), was an Italian saint who was one of the first followers of Francis of Assisi.
1499 – Maria Salviati, Italian noblewoman (d. 1543)
Maria Salviati (17 July 1499 – 29 December 1543) was a Florentine noblewoman, the daughter of Lucrezia di Lorenzo de’ Medici and Jacopo Salviati. She married Giovanni delle Bande Nere and was the mother of Cosimo I de Medici. Her husband died 30 November 1526, leaving her a widow at the age of 27. Salviati never remarried; after her husband’s death she adopted the somber garb of a novice, which is how she is remembered today as numerous late portraits show her attired in black and white.[1]
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Word Genius: Word of the Day
Peter Buxtun (sometimes referred to as Peter Buxton; 1937 – May 18, 2024)was an employee of the United States Public Health Service who became known as the whistleblower responsible for ending the Tuskegee syphilis experiment.
Mike Stobbee, Asociated Press: Tuskegee syphilis study whistleblower Peter Buxtun has died at age 86
By MessyNessy, 13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 704): For sale: the only private island in the San Francisco Bay; The changing face of an American motel through the years; Rooftop sculptures in the Punjab hinterland; Automobile Exhibition in Paris in 1957; Cloudspotting for Beginners and more ->
By David Sherry, Caffeine: What Tabs Do You Have Open in Your Browser?
Make A Living Writing: Top 6 Scams That Prey on Broke, Desperate Freelance Writers
By Sophie Culpepper, Nieman Labs: Could social media support healthy online conversations? New_ Public is working on it “We talk to a lot of towns where there is no newspaper anymore; there’s no community center anymore; the town store shut down. And this is kind of it.”
Jake Wynn – Public Historian: Speaking Pennsylvania Dutch on the front lines in France | July 1944
Agree, thankful I do not need a handicap parking permit.
Morning Briefing July 16, 2024 – State corrections officer arrested
Colion Noir: What Trump’s Assassination Attempt Means For The Second Amendment
First Responders: Don’t Do Meth | Nye County, NV | S2E66 | US COPS
Shawn Ryan Show: Cmdr. Ahmad Massoud – The Assassination that Changed the World | SRS #121
Courtesy of Chuck Degroat
Recipes
By Amy Maoz, Pocket Collections: 13 Recipes for Hearty, Meal-Worthy Salads
By Ashley Elizabeth, Food Talk Daily: Easy Hash Brown Casserole Recipe With Sour Cream
The Yummy Bowl: Cabbage Stir Fry ”Rice”
The Yummy Bowl: These Crispy Pan Fried Tofu Bites Are The Most Delicious Way To Eat Tofu
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
wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 22 June 22, 2026Picture of the day Chrysomma sinense (Yellow-eyed Babbler) in Bhigwan, Maharashtra, India.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 21 June 21, 2026Picture of the day Bags of organic fertiliser adorn newly-planted fields against a backdrop of the Western Catchment in the Nilgiri mountains. Tamil Nadu, India
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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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