On This Day
996 – Sixteen-year-old Otto III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.[2]
Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu.
Otto III was crowned as King of Germany in 983 at the age of three, shortly after his father’s death in Southern Italy while campaigning against the Byzantine Empire and the Emirate of Sicily. Though the nominal ruler of Germany, Otto III’s minor status ensured his various regents held power over the Empire. His cousin Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, initially claimed regency over the young king and attempted to seize the throne for himself in 984. When his rebellion failed to gain the support of Germany’s aristocracy, Henry II was forced to abandon his claims to the throne and to allow Otto III’s mother Theophanu to serve as regent until her death in 991. Otto III was then still a child, so his grandmother, Adelaide of Italy, served as regent until 994.
853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt.[2]
Damietta (Egyptian Arabic: دمياط Dumyāṭ [domˈjɑːtˤ]; Coptic: ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲁϯ, romanized: Tamiati) is a port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt, a former bishopric and present multiple Catholic titular see. It is located at the Damietta branch, an eastern distributary of the Nile Delta, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the Mediterranean Sea, about 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Cairo. Damietta joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities.
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Born On This Day
1497 – Al-Hattab, Muslim jurist (d. 1547)
Muhammad Abu ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad at-Tarabulsi al-Hattab al-Ru’yani (May 21, 1497 – 1547 CE) (902 AH – 954 AH) (Arabic: محمد أبو عبدالله بن محمد الحطاب الرعيني), more commonly referred to in Islamic scholarship as al-Hattab or Imam al-Hattab, was a 16th-century CE Muslim jurist from Tripoli, the capital of modern-day Libya. Al-Hattab was a scholar of the Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). His book Mawahib al-Jalil, which was one of the first major commentaries on Khalil’s Mukhtassar (Concise Text), is considered one of the best and most thorough commentaries in the Maliki school of law.[1]
1408 – Annamacharya, Hindu saint (d. 1503)
Tallapaka Annamacharya (Telugu : తాళ్ళపాక అన్నమాచార్య) (IAST: taḷḷapāka annamācārya; 22 May 1408 – 4 April 1503), also popularly known as Annamayya, was a 15th-century Hindu saint and the earliest known Indian musician to compose songs called sankirtanas in praise of the Venkateswara, a form of Lord Vishnu.[1] The musical form of the keertana songs that he composed, which are still popular among Carnatic music concert artists,[2] have strongly influenced the structure of Carnatic music compositions.[3] Annamacharya is remembered for his saintly life, and is honoured as a great devotee of Shree Vishnu by devotees and saintly singers.[4]
He is believed to have been the avatar of Nandaka, the sword of Shree Hari Vishnu. He is widely regarded as the Andhra Pada kavitā Pitāmaha (Grandfather of Telugu song-writing).[1]
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FYI
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Interesting Facts
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Weekly digest for Beyond Bylines, on May 22, 2023: Top Vacation Homes, New Ad-Supported Smart TV, Workplace Progress for Gen Z, Millennials | This Week on PR Newswire and more ->
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Ideas
By Garbagzebos: Small Arched,steel Shed. Moveable/Transportable. Possible Uses: Car Port for Small Cars or Motorbikes, Garden Shed or Workshop.
By lonesoulsurfer: Junkbot Made From Typewriter Parts (mostly…)
Recipes
By In The Kitchen With Matt: 2-Ingredient Dough Cinnamon Rolls
By Food Network Kitchen: How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
Food Network Kitchen: Freezer Bag Chicken Primavera
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?