On This Day
860 – Byzantine–Rus’ War: A fleet of about 200 Rus’ vessels sails into the Bosphorus and starts pillaging the suburbs of the Byzantine capital Constantinople.
The siege of Constantinople in 860 was the only major military expedition of the Rus’ recorded in Byzantine and western European sources. The casus belli was the construction of the fortress Sarkel by Byzantine engineers, restricting the Rus’ trade route along the Don River in favour of the Khazars.[not verified in body] Accounts vary, with discrepancies between contemporary and later sources, and the outcome is unknown in detail.
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Born On This Day
1332 – John V Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor (died 1391)
John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus (Greek: Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, romanized: Iōánnēs Palaiológos; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions. His long reign was marked by constant civil war, the spread of the Black Death and several military defeats to the Ottoman Turks, who rose as the dominant power of the region.
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FYI
NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day
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Word Genius: Word of the Day
Wise Trivia
By Open Culture: A Free Yale Course on Medieval History: 700 Years in 22 Lectures
By Open Culture: The Soviet Union Creates a List of 38 Dangerous Rock Bands: Kiss, Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, Village People & More (1985)
By Colin Marshall, Open Culture. The Genius of Brian Wilson (RIP) and How He Turned “Good Vibrations” Into the Beach Boys’ Pocket Symphony
Craig Medred: Trainwreck Fishery
“You know, I’ve had a good morning,” he said. “My wife apologized to me for the first time ever.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah, she said she was sorry she ever met me, but I’m taking it as an apology.”
I chuckled as I tried to focus.
“And she told me I’ve grown as a person.” He shrugged. “Well, she said I’ve gotten fatter, but same thing.”
I laughed heartily and stepped away from the tee, unable to hit the ball. I looked at him. “I had an interesting morning as well.”
“What happened?”
“I surprised our regular delivery guy by showing up at the door naked.” I lined up my drive again. “I don’t know which shocked him more—my naked body or the fact I knew where he lived.”
Peter O’Mahoney: Reckoning Hour
Ideas
Instructables: Automated Greenhouse With Arduino Mega
Recipes
Simply Recipes: The 2-Ingredient Cornbread My Grandmother Taught Me To Make
Instructables: Best Ever Strawberry Hand-Pie
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
- Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel June 12, 2026Firstly, thank you for the Jaffle love. 🥰 Hit the Jaffle button above to see what he got up to today! Secondly – cake. Specifically, Coffee Cake! A classic crumb cake with a jammy cinnamon ribbon, loaded with lots and lots of nubbly, extra crunchy cinnamon streusel. Outrageously good. Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel This... […]Nagi
- Introducing Jaffle! June 10, 2026Meet Jaffle! Future Chief Taste Tester. Son of a Dozer friend. A little bundle of golden, fluffy joy! 48 hours of instant happiness I didn’t expect to get a new puppy so soon after saying goodbye to Dozer. To be honest, I wasn’t sure when I’d be ready. And I had it in my head... […]Nagi
wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 13 June 13, 2026Picture of the day An image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on a stained-glass window located in a church in St. Peters, Missouri. Today is the feast day of the Immaculate Heart in the Roman Catholic Church.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 12 June 12, 2026Picture of the day A memorial to victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in front the Stonewall Inn in New York City. On June 12, 2016, a terrorist shot and killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, USA.
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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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