On This Day
1138 – Konrad III von Hohenstaufen was elected king of Germany at Coblenz in the presence of the papal legate Theodwin.[2]
Conrad III (German: Konrad; Italian: Corrado; 1093 or 1094 – 15 February 1152) of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was from 1116 to 1120 Duke of Franconia, from 1127 to 1135 anti-king of his predecessor Lothair III, and from 1138 until his death in 1152 King of the Romans in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the son of Duke Frederick I of Swabia and Agnes,[1] a daughter of the Salian Emperor Henry IV.[2][3]
His reign saw the start of the conflicts between the Guelphs and Ghibellines. He was involved in the failed Second Crusade with Louis VII, where he would fight and lose at Doryleum and would later fall ill and return to Constantinople. After recuperating, he went to Jerusalem but would experience a string of failed sieges. Later returning from the Crusade, he was entangled in some conflicts with Welf VI’s claim to the Duchy of Bavaria. On his deathbed, he designated his nephew Frederick Barbarossa as his successor instead of his son, Frederick IV, Duke of Swabia.
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1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem Shahnameh.[1]
The Shahnameh or Shahnama (Persian: شاهنامه, romanized: Šāhnāme, lit. ’The Book of Kings’, pronounced [ʃɒːhnɒːˈme])[a] is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 “distichs” or couplets (two-line verses),[2] the Shahnameh is one of the world’s longest epic poems. It tells mainly the mythical and to some extent the historical past of the Persian Empire from the creation of the world until the Muslim conquest in the seventh century. Iran, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and the greater region influenced by Persian culture such as Armenia, Dagestan, Georgia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan celebrate this national epic.[3]
The work is of central importance in Persian culture and Persian language, regarded as a literary masterpiece, and definitive of the ethno-national cultural identity of Iran.[4]
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Born On This Day
942 – Mu’ayyad al-Dawla, Buyid emir (d. 983)
Abu Mansur Buya (Persian: ابو منصور بویه; died 983), better known by his honorific title of Mu’ayyad al-Dawla (Arabic: مویدالدوله, lit. ’Helper of the State’) was the Buyid amir of Hamadan (976–983), Jibal (977–983), Tabaristan (980–983), and Gorgan (981–983). He was the third son of Rukn al-Dawla.
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1495 – John of God, Portuguese friar and saint (d. 1550)[42]
John of God, OH (Portuguese: João de Deus; Spanish: Juan de Dios; Latin: Joannes Dei; March 8, 1495 – March 8, 1550) was a Portuguese soldier turned health-care worker in Spain, whose followers later formed the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, a worldwide Catholic religious institute dedicated to the care of the poor, sick, and those suffering from mental disorders. He has been canonized by the Catholic Church, and is considered one of the leading religious figures in the Iberian Peninsula.
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FYI
NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day
EarthSky News
This Day in Tech History
Interesting Facts
Word Genius: Word of the Day
Tico & the Man Frank Maglio: In honor of Gary Rossington
David Perry Lindley (March 21, 1944 – March 3, 2023) was an American musician who founded the rock band El Rayo-X and worked with many other performers including Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt, Warren Zevon, Curtis Mayfield and Dolly Parton. He mastered such a wide variety of instruments that Acoustic Guitar magazine referred to him not as a multi-instrumentalist but instead as a “maxi-instrumentalist.”[1] On stage, Lindley was known for wearing garishly colored polyester shirts with clashing pants, gaining the nickname the Prince of Polyester.[2]
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Wickersham’s Conscience: R.I.P. David Lindley, 1944-2023
Bonnie Raitt & David Lindley – Everywhere I Go
GE Smith & David Lindley – Live at the Great American Music Hall
What’s for afters?: David Lindley – Werewolves of London [Sunday Night Live 1989]
By Colin Marshall, Open Culture: Bored at Work? Here’s What Your Brain Is Trying to Tell You
By Colin Marshall, Open Culture: Essential Japanese Cinema: A Journey Through 50 of Japan’s Beautiful, Often Bizarre Films
ILSR’s Community Broadband Initiative: Recently in Community Networks… Week of 3/6
By Dan Nosowitz, Atlas Obscura: The Enduring Mystery of ‘Jawn,’ Philadelphia’s All-Purpose Noun According to experts, it’s unlike any word, in any language.
By Allie volpe, Vox: Everyone messes up. Here’s how to say you’re sorry. It’s easy to give a bad apology. Here’s how to give a good one.
The six (and a half) components of a good apology
According to Marjorie Ingall and Susan McCarthy, the authors of the book Sorry, Sorry, Sorry: The Case for Good Apologies, successful apologies contain six (and a half) components:
Say you’re sorry or that you apologize. Actually use the words “I’m sorry” or “I apologize.”
Name or specify the infraction you’re apologizing for.
Show you understand why your actions were harmful and hurtful, and the effect it had on the other person.
Don’t make excuses, but offer an explanation if needed.
Say what you are doing to ensure this situation won’t happen again.
Offer to fix what’s broken — whether that’s buying your aunt a new lamp you knocked off a table at Thanksgiving or offering to spend more time with a friend who feels neglected.
John Pavlovitz: Health update: 18 months post-brain surgery
Excellent book title: If God is Love, Don’t be a Jerk
Al Cross and Heather Close at The Rural Blog: To keep the faith amid gay-rights debate, largest Methodist church in Arkansas splits three ways; Jimmy Carter and climate change . . .
Al Cross and Heather Close at The Rural Blog: First rural hospitals begin move to emergency-services-only; when rural counties dispute renewables, some states ban the bans . .
BRCC Alaska Bear Hunt Ep. 1: Predators Hunting Predators
Recipes
Kitchen Mason: How to Make Cornflake Tart, a School Dinner Classic!
By Laura Manzano, The kitchn: Chocolate Cloud Cake Is the MVP of All Chocolate Desserts
By Betty Crocker Kitchens: 8 Festive Green Foods for St. Patrick’s Day
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
- 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 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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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.
Thanks to everyone involved to keep this forum going: our blogging team, the well-read Stumper Magicians, the many referrals, and of course to everyone who fondly remembers the wonder of books from their childhood and wants to share or revisit that wonder. Isn’t it amazing, the magic of a book?