FYI May 16-17, 2023

On This Day

1426 – Gov. Thado of Mohnyin becomes king of Ava.[3]
Mohnyin Thado (Burmese: မိုးညှင်း သတိုး, pronounced [móɲ̥ɪ́ɴ ðədó]; 1379–1439) was king of Ava from 1426 to 1439. He is also known in Burmese history as Mohnyin Min Taya (မိုးညှင်း မင်းတရား, [móɲ̥ɪ́ɴ mɪ́ɴ təjá], “Righteous Lord of Mohnyin”) after his longtime tenure as the sawbwa of Mohnyin, a Shan-speaking frontier state (in present-day Kachin State, Myanmar). He founded the royal house (or dynasty) of Mohnyin (မိုးညှင်း ဆက်) that would rule the kingdom until 1527.

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1395 – Battle of Rovine: The Wallachians defeat an invading Ottoman army.[1]
The Battle of Rovine took place on 17 May 1395.[5] The Wallachian army led by Voivod Mircea the Elder opposed the Ottoman invasion personally led by Sultan Bayezid I the Thunderbolt. The Turkish force heavily outnumbered the Wallachian troops. The legend says that on the eve of the battle, dressed as a peace emissary, Mircea cel Bătrân talked to Bayezid asking him to leave Wallachia and promising him safe passage back. The Sultan proudly insisted on fighting.


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Born On This Day

1418 – John II of Cyprus, King of Cyprus and Armenia and also titular King of Jerusalem from 1432 to 1458 (probable;[20] d. 1458)
John II or III of Cyprus (16 May 1418 – 28 July 1458) was the King of Cyprus and Armenia and also titular King of Jerusalem from 1432 to 1458. He was previously a titular Prince of Antioch.


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1155 – Jien, Japanese monk, poet, and historian (d. 1225)
Jien (慈円, 17 May 1155 in Kyoto – 28 October 1225 in Omi) was a Japanese poet, historian, and Buddhist monk.[1]

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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
 
 
By Paul Kiel, ProPublica: The IRS Tiptoes Into Offering Free Online Tax Filing — and Possible Competition With TurboTax
In the wake of ProPublica’s reporting on the misleading tactics of the major tax-prep companies, Congress asked the IRS to examine whether it could offer free filing directly with the tax agency. A new pilot program will test the concept.
 
 
 
 

By Jordan Runtagh, Rolling Stone: John Lennon’s Phantom V: The Story of the Psychedelic Beatle-Mobile Looking back at how the late icon’s famed Rolls-Royce served both as a safe haven and a souped-up plaything.

 
 
 
 
By DRAZEN JORGIC, Reuters: How El Chapo’s sons built a fentanyl empire poisoning America
Once dismissed as “narco brats” flaunting fast cars, pet tigers and a golden AK-47 on social media, the brothers have emerged as key figures in the violent Sinaloa Cartel, security officials say.
 
 
 
 

By Patrick Sauer, Smithsonian Magazine: The True Story Behind Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and Her Mixed-Up Files Over 50 years ago, author E.L. Konigsburg wrote her children’s literature classic that highlighted the wonder of museums.

 
 
 
 
By Ernie Smith, Tedium: Make Digital Preservation Easier If major companies think it’s too hard or costly to leave up user-generated content, perhaps we need to change the motivations.

 
 
 
 
By Olivia Rutigliano, Literary Hub: The Most Iconic Detective Sidekicks, Ranked 45 of the greatest detective-adjacent crime-solvers in history.

 
 
 
 

GeoBeats: A sick cockatoo lost his human. Here’s how the vet responded.

 
 
 
 

Recipes

By Betty Crocker Kitchens: Canned Tuna Is the Key to These 10 Quick Recipes
 
 
By Betty Crocker Kitchens: 10 Reasons We Always Keep Chocolate Cake Mix On Hand
 
 
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
 
 


 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 

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Stacy, Carol RT Book Reviews

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?