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8 September

8 September

September 8 is the 251st day of the year (252nd in leap years). There are 114 days remaining.

Events

- 1331 - Stefan Dusan declares himself king of Serbia
- 1380 - Battle of Kulikovo - Russian forces defeat a mixed army of Tatars and Mongols, stopping their advance.
- 1449 - Battle of Tumu Fortress - Mongolians capture the Chinese emperor.
- 1504 - Michelangelo's David is unveiled in Florence.
- 1514 - Battle of Orsha - In one of the biggest battles of the century, Belarussians and Poles defeat the Russian army.
- 1565 - Pedro Menéndez de Avilés settles St. Augustine, Florida.
- 1565 - The Knights of Malta lift the Turkish siege of Malta (the Siege of Malta started on May 18).
- 1636 - A vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony establishes the first college in what would become the United States, today known as Harvard University.
- 1664 - The Dutch colony of New Amsterdam was surrendered to the British who renamed it New York in 1669.
- 1727 - A barn fire during a puppet show in the village of Burwell in Cambs, UK kills 78 people, many of whom are children
- 1755 - French and Indian War: Battle of Lake George
- 1796 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Bassano - French forces defeat Austrian troops at Bassano.
- 1810 - The Tonquin sets sail from New York Harbor with 33 employees of John Jacob Astor's newly created Pacific Fur Company on board. After a six-month journey around the tip of South America, the ship arrived at the mouth of the Columbia River and Astor's men established fur-trading town of Astoria, Oregon.
- 1831 - William IV was crowned King of Great Britain.
- 1863 - American Civil War: Second Battle of Sabine Pass - On the Texas-Louisiana border at the mouth of the Sabine River, a small Confederate force thwarts a Union invasion of Texas.
- 1888 - In London, the body of Jack the Ripper's second murder victim, Annie Chapman, is found.
- 1888 - In England the first six Football League matches ever are played.
- 1900 - Galveston Hurricane of 1900: a powerful hurricane hits Galveston, Texas killing about 8,000 people.
- 1921- 16-year-old Margaret Gorman won the Atlantic City Pageant's Golden Mermaid trophy; pageant officials later dubbed her the first Miss America.
- 1923 - Honda Point Disaster: Nine US Navy destroyers run aground off the California coast. Seven are lost.
- 1926 - Germany was admitted to the League of Nations.
- 1930 - 3M begins marketing Scotch transparent tape.
- 1934 - Off the New Jersey coast, a fire aboard the passenger liner SS Morro Castle kills 135 people.
- 1935 - US Senator from Louisiana, Huey Long, nicknamed "Kingfish", is fatally shot in the Louisiana capitol building.
- 1941 - World War II: Siege of Leningrad begins. German forces begin a siege against the Soviet Union's second-largest city, Leningrad. Stalin orders the Volga Deutsche deported to Siberia.
- 1943 - World War II: United States General Dwight D. Eisenhower publicly announces the Allied armistice with Italy.
- 1943 - World War II: Julius Fucik is executed by Nazis.
- 1944 - World War II: London is hit by a V2 rocket for the first time.
- 1944 - World War II: Menton is liberated from Germany.
- 1945 - Cold War: United States troops arrive to partition the southern part of Korea in response to Soviet troops occupying the northern part of the peninsula a month earlier.
- 1951 - Treaty of San Francisco: In San Francisco, California, 48 nations sign a peace treaty with Japan in formal recognition of the end of the Pacific War.
- 1954 - The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) is established.
- 1960 - In Huntsville, Alabama, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicates the Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA had already activated the facility on July 1).
- 1962 - Newly independent, Algeria, by referendum, adopts a Constitution.
- 1966 - "The Man Trap", the first episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek airs.
- 1966 - The Severn Road Bridge was officially opened.
- 1971 - In Washington, DC, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is inaugurated, with the opening feature being the premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass.
- 1974 - Watergate Scandal: US President Gerald Ford pardons former President Richard Nixon for any crimes Nixon may have committed while in office.
- 1974 - Evel Knievel's attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon at Twin Falls, Idaho, fails after a parachute prematurely deploys on his "sky cycle."
- 1991 - Republic of Macedonia becomes independent.
- 1994 - A Boeing 737 operating USAir Flight 427 carrying 132 people on board, crashes on approach to Pittsburgh International Airport. There are no survivors.
- 1998 - At Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, Mark McGwire breaks Roger Maris' 1961 record of 61 home runs hit in a single season.
- 1999 - US Attorney General Janet Reno names former US Senator John Danforth to head an independent investigation of the 1993 fire at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas.
- 2000 - The Republic of Albania officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Albania.
- 2001 - Durban, South Africa hosts the World Conference against Racism.
- 2003 - Brianna LaHara, a 12-year-old U.S. schoolgirl, is sued by the RIAA for downloading music illegally.
- 2004 - The NASA unmanned spacecraft Genesis crash-lands when its parachute fails to open.

Births

- 551 BC – Confucius, Chinese philosopher (d. 479 BC)
- 801 - Ansgar, German Catholic archbishop
- 828 - Ali al-Hadi, Shia Imam (d. 868)
- 1157 - King Richard I of England (d. 1199)
- 1207 - King Sancho II of Portugal
- 1271 - Charles Martel d'Anjou, son of Charles II of Naples (d. 1295)
- 1380 - Saint Bernardino of Siena, Italian Franciscan missionary (d. 1444)
- 1474 - Ludovico Ariosto, Italian poet (d. 1533)
- 1515 - Alfonso Salmeron, Spanish Jesuit biblical scholar (d. 1585)
- 1588 - Marin Mersenne, French mathematician (d. 1648)
- 1611 - Johann Friedrich Gronovius, German classical scholar (d. 1671)
- 1621 - Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, French general (d. 1686)
- 1633 - Ferdinand IV of Germany (d. 1654)
- 1672 - Nicolas de Grigny, French organist and composer (d. 1703)
- 1749 - Gabrielle de Polastron, comtesse de Polignac, French aristocrat (d. 1793)
- 1778 - Clemens Brentano, German poet (d. 1842)
- 1783 - Nicolai Grundtvig, Danish writer and philosopher (d. 1872)
- 1804 - Eduard Mörike, German poet (d. 1875)
- 1814 - Charles-Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, French writer and historian (d. 1874)
- 1828 - Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, American Civil War soldier
- 1830 - Frédéric Mistral, French poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1914)
- 1841 - Antonin Dvorak, Czech composer (d. 1904)
- 1852 - Emperor Gwangmu of Korea (d. 1919)
- 1873 - David O. McKay, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1970)
- 1881 - Harry Hillman, American athlete
- 1886 - Siegfried Sassoon, English poet (d. 1967)
- 1889 - Robert Alphonso Taft, U.S. Senator from Ohio (d. 1953)
- 1897 - Jimmie Rodgers, American singer and composer (d. 1933)
- 1901 - Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd, Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 1966)
- 1910 - Jean-Louis Barrault, French actor and director (d. 1994)
- 1914 - Sir Denys Lasdun, English architect (d. 2001)
- 1918 - Derek Harold Richard Barton, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
- 1921 - Sir Harry Secombe, Welsh actor (d. 2001)
- 1922 - Sid Caesar, American comedian
- 1922 - Lyndon LaRouche, American politician
- 1924 - Mimi Parent, Canadian painter (d. 2005)
- 1925 - Peter Sellers, English actor (d. 1980)
- 1929 - Christoph von Dohnanyi, German conductor
- 1930 - Nguyen Cao Ky, Premier of South Vietnam
- 1932 - Patsy Cline, American singer (d. 1963)
- 1933 - Michael Frayn, English playwright
- 1934 - Peter Maxwell Davies, British composer
- 1938 - Sam Nunn, U.S. Senator from Georgia
- 1939 - Carsten Keller, German field hockey player
- 1944 - Terry Jenner, Australian Cricketer
- 1945 - Ron Pigpen McKernan, American musician (the Grateful Dead) (d. 1973)
- 1947 - Ann Beattie, American writer
- 1947 - Valery Afanassiev, Russian pianist
- 1956 - Frank Tovey, British singer and musician (d. 2002)
- 1960 - Aimee Mann, American musician
- 1964 - Michael Johns, business executive and White House speechwriter
- 1964 - Joachim Nielsen, Norwegian musician (d. 2000)
- 1966 - Carola, Swedish singer
- 1969 - Gary Speed, Welsh footballer
- 1970 - Neko Case, American musician
- 1970 - Latrell Sprewell, American basketball player
- 1970 - Yuji Nishizawa, Japanese hijacker
- 1971 - Brooke Burke, American model
- 1971 - Daniel Petrov, Bulgarian boxer
- 1972 - Lisa Kennedy, American television personality
- 1976 - Sjeng Schalken, Dutch tennis player
- 1979 - Pink, American singer
- 1981 - Morten Gamst Pedersen, Norwegian footballer
- 1981 - Jonathan Taylor Thomas, American actor

Deaths

- 701 - Pope Sergius I
- 780 - Leo IV, Byzantine Emperor
- 1425 - King Charles III of Navarre (b. 1361)
- 1539 - John Stokesley, English churchman
- 1603 - George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon, English politician (b. 1547)
- 1613 - Carlo Gesualdo, Italian composer (b. 1566)
- 1637 - Robert Fludd, English mystic (b. 1574)
- 1644 - John Coke, English politician (b. 1563)
- 1644 - Francis Quarles, English poet (b. 1592)
- 1645 - Francisco de Quevedo, Spanish writer (b. 1580)
- 1656 - Joseph Hall, English bishop and writer (b. 1574)
- 1682 - Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz, Spanish writer (b. 1606)
- 1721 - Michael Brokoff, Czech sculptor (b. 1686)
- 1739 - Yuri Troubetzkoy, Governor of Belgorod (b. 1668)
- 1755 - Ephraim Williams, American philanthropist (b. 1715)
- 1761 - Bernard Forest de Bélidor, French engineer (b. 1698)
- 1780 - Enoch Poor, American Continental Army general (b. 1736)
- 1784 - Ann Lee, American religious leader (b. 1736)
- 1811 - Peter Simon Pallas, German zoologist (b. 1741)
- 1933 - King Faysal I of Iraq (b. 1883)
- 1894 - Hermann von Helmholtz, German physician (b. 1821)
- 1943 - Julius Fucik, Czech journalist (executed) (b. 1903)
- 1948 - Thomas Mofolo, Lesotho writer (b. 1876)
- 1949 - Richard Strauss, German composer (b. 1864)
- 1965 - Dorothy Dandridge, American actress (b. 1922)
- 1965 - Hermann Staudinger, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)
- 1969 - Bud Collyer, American television game show host (b. 1908)
- 1969 - Alexandra David-Néel, French explorer and writer (b. 1868)
- 1977 - Zero Mostel, American actor (b. 1915)
- 1979 - Jean Seberg, American actress (b. 1938)
- 1980 - Willard Libby, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
- 1981 - Bill Shankly, Scottish football manager (b. 1913)
- 1981 - Roy Wilkins, American civil rights activist (b. 1901)
- 1981 - Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
- 1985 - John Franklin Enders, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1887)
- 2002 - Laurie Williams, West Indian cricketer (b. 1968)
- 2003 - Jaclyn Linetsky, Canadian voice actress (b. 1986)
- 2003 - Leni Riefenstahl, German film director (b. 1902)
- 2004 - Frank Thomas, American animator (b. 1913)
- 2005 - Noel Cantwell, Irish cricketer and footballer (b. 1932)

Holidays

- RC Saints - Feast of the Birth of Mary, also in the Anglican Church; Pope Sergius I
- Eastern Orthodoxy - Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos
- Andorra - National day: Mare de Deu de Meritxell
- Bahá'í Faith - Feast of 'Izzat (Might) - First day of the tenth month of the Bahá'í calendar
- Republic of Macedonia - Independence day (from Yugoslavia, 1991)
- Fiestas de Santa Fe in New Mexico, USA
- National literacy day (UK)

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/8 BBC: On This Day] ---- September 7 - September 9 - August 8 - October 8 – more historical anniversaries ko:9월 8일 ja:9月8日 simple:September 8 th:8 กันยายน

September 8

September 8 is the 251st day of the year (252nd in leap years). There are 114 days remaining.

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays

External links

Leap year

A leap year (or intercalary year) is a year containing an extra day or month in order to keep the calendar year in sync with an astronomical or seasonal year. Seasons and astronomical events do not repeat at an exact number of days, so a calendar which had the same number of days in each year would over time drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. By occasionally inserting (or intercalating) an additional day or month into the year, the drift can be corrected. Leap years (which keep the calendar in sync with the year) should not be confused with leap seconds (which keep clock time in sync with the day).

Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar, the current standard calendar in most of the world, adds a 29th day to February in all years evenly divisible by 4, except for century years (those ending in -00), which receive the extra day only if they are evenly divisible by 400. Thus 1996 was a leap year whereas 1999 was not, and 1600, 2000 and 2400 are leap years but 1700, 1800, 1900 and 2100 are not. The reasoning behind this rule is as follows:
- The Gregorian calendar is designed to keep the vernal equinox on or close to March 21, so that the date of Easter (celebrated on the Sunday after the 14th day of the Moon that falls on or after 21 March) remains correct with respect to the vernal equinox.
- The vernal equinox year is currently about 365.242375 days long.
- The Gregorian leap year rule gives an average year length of 365.2425 days. This difference of a little over 0.0001 days means that in around 8,000 years, the calendar will be about one day behind where it should be. But in 8,000 years' time the length of the vernal equinox year will have changed by an amount we can't accurately predict (see below). So the Gregorian leap year rule does a good enough job. Image:Gregoriancalendarleap.png

Which day is the leap day?

The Gregorian calendar is a modification of the Julian calendar first used by the Romans. The Roman calendar originated as a lunar calendar (though from the 5th century BC it no longer followed the real moon) and named its days after three of the phases of the moon: the new moon (calends, hence "calendar"), the first quarter (nones) and the full moon (ides). Days were counted down (inclusively) to the next named day, so 24 February was ante diem sextum calendas martii ("the sixth day before the calends of March"). Since 45 BC, February in a leap year had two days called "the sixth day before the calends of March". The extra day was originally the second of these, but since the third century it was the first. Hence the term bissextile day for 24 February in a bissextile year. Where this custom is followed, anniversaries after the inserted day are moved in leap years. For example, the former feast day of Saint Matthias, 24 February in ordinary years, would be 25 February in leap years. This historical nicety is, however, in the process of being discarded: The European Union declared that, starting in 2000, 29 February rather than 24 February would be leap day, and the Roman Catholic Church also now uses 29 February as leap day. The only tangible difference is felt in countries that celebrate feast days.

Julian calendar

The Julian calendar adds an extra day to February in years divisible by 4. This rule gives an average year length of 365.25 days. The excess of about 0.0076 days with respect to the vernal equinox year means that the vernal equinox moves a day earlier in the calendar every 130 years or so.

Revised Julian Calendar

The Revised Julian calendar adds an extra day to February in years divisible by 4, except for years divisible by 100 that do not leave a remainder of 200 or 600 when divided by 900. This rule agrees with the rule for the Gregorian calendar until 2799. The first year that dates in the Revised Julian calendar will not agree with the those in the Gregorian calendar will be 2800, because it will be a leap year in the Gregorian calendar but not in the Revised Julian calendar. This rule gives an average year length of 365.242222… days. This is a very good approximation to the mean tropical year, but because the vernal equinox tropical year is slightly longer, the Revised Julian calendar does not do as good a job as the Gregorian calendar of keeping the vernal equinox on or close to 21 March.

Chinese calendar

The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, so a leap year has an extra month, often called an embolismic month after the Greek word for it. In the Chinese calendar the leap month is added according to a complicated rule, which ensures that month 11 is always the month that contains the northern winter solstice. The intercalary month takes the same number as the preceding month; for example, if it follows the second month then it is simply called "leap second month".

Hebrew calendar

The Hebrew calendar is also lunisolar with an embolistic month. In the Hebrew calendar the extra month is called Adar Alef (first Adar) and is added before Adar, which then becomes Adar Sheni (second Adar). According to the Metonic cycle, this is done seven times every nineteen years, specifically, in years, 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19. In addition, the Hebrew calendar has postponement rules that postpone the start of the year by one or two days. The year before the postponement gets one or two extra days, and the year whose start is postponed loses one or two days. These postponement rules reduce the number of different combinations of year length and starting day of the week from 28 to 14, and regulate the location of certain religious holidays in relation to the Sabbath.

Hindu Calendar

In the Hindu calendar, which is a lunisolar calendar, the embolismic month is called adhika maas (extra month). It is the month in which the sun is in the same sign of the stellar zodiac on two consecutive dark moons.

Iranian calendar

The Iranian calendar also has a single intercalated day once in every four years, but every 33 years or so the leap years will be five years apart instead of four years apart. The system used is more accurate and more complicated, and is based on the time of the March equinox as observed from Teheran. The 33-year period is not completely regular; every so often the 33-year cycle will be broken by a cycle of 29 or 37 years.

Long term leap year rules

The accumulated difference between the Gregorian calendar and the vernal equinoctial year amounts to 1 day in about 8,000 years. This suggests that the calendar needs to be improved by another refinement to the leap year rule: perhaps by avoiding leap years in years divisible by 8,000. (The most common such proposal is to avoid leap years in years divisible by 4,000 [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22gregorian+calendar%22+error+%22leap+year%22+4000]. This is based on the difference between the Gregorian calendar and the mean tropical year. Others claim, erroneously, that the Gregorian calendar itself already contains a refinement of this kind [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mleapyr.html].) However, there is little point in planning a calendar so far ahead because over a timescale of tens of thousands of years the number of days in a year will change for a number of reasons, most notably: #Precession of the equinoxes moves the position of the vernal equinox with respect to perihelion and so changes the length of the vernal equinoctial year. #Tidal acceleration from the sun and moon slows the rotation of the earth, making the day longer. In particular, the second component of change depends on such things as post-glacial rebound and sea level rise due to climate change. We can't predict these changes accurately enough to be able to make a calendar that will be accurate to a day in tens of thousands of years.

Marriage proposal

There is a tradition, said to go back to Saint Patrick and Saint Bridget in 5th century Ireland, whereby women may only make marriage proposals in leap years.

Saint Patrick and the leap year

:Saint Patrick, having driven the frogs out of the bogs was walking along the shores of Lough Neagh, when he was accosted by Saint Bridget in tears, and was told that a mutiny had broken out in the nunnery over which she presided, the ladies claiming the right of popping the question. :Saint Patrick said he would concede them the right every seventh year, when Saint Bridget threw her arms round his neck, and exclaimed, "Arrah, Pathrick, jewel, I daurn't go back to the girls wid such a proposal. Make it one year in four." Saint Patrick replied, "Bridget, acushla, squeeze me that way again, an' I'll give ye leap-year, the longest of the lot." Saint Bridget, upon this, popped the question to St Patrick himself, who, of course, could not marry: so he patched up the difficulty as best he could with a kiss and a silk gown. (Source: Evans, Ivor H, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Cassell, London, 1988) According to a 1288 law in Scotland, fines were levied if the proposal was refused by the man; compensation ranged from a kiss to a silk gown to soften the blow. Because men felt that put them at too great a risk, the tradition was in some places tightened to restricting female proposals to 29 February.

Birthdays

A person who was born on 29 February may be called a "leapling". In non-leap years they usually celebrate their birthday on 28 February or 1 March. There are many instances in children's literature where a person's claim to be only a quarter of their actual age turns out be based on counting their leap-year birthdays. A similar device is used in the plot of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance. Category:Calendars Category:Units of time als:Schaltjahr ko:윤년 ja:閏年 simple:Leap year th:ปีอธิกสุรทิน

1331

Events

- September 8 - Stefan Dusan declares himself king of Serbia
- Start of the reign of Emperor Kogon of Japan, first of the Northern Ashikaga Pretenders

Births

- Coluccio Salutati, Florentine political leader (died 1406)

Deaths

- January 14 - Odoric, Italian explorer
- October 27 - Abulfeda, Arab historian and geographer (born 1273) Category:1331 ko:1331년

Serbia

The Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија) is a republic in south-eastern Europe which is united with Montenegro in a loose commonwealth known as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. The capital is in Belgrade. Serbia borders Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; the Republic of Macedonia to the south; and Albania, Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina to the west.

History

Main article: History of Serbia See also The Serbia Series: See also: List of Serbian monarchs, History of Yugoslavia The roots of the Serbian state reach back to the 7th century and the House of Vlastimirović. The Serbian kingdom (centered around Duklja) was established in the 11th century. Marked by a disintegration and crises, it lasted until the end of 12th century. The renewal of the medieval Serbian state in the Raška region was performed by Stefan Nemanja, the Serbian Grand Župan who lived in the 12th century. In 1220, under Stefan the First Crowned, Serbia became a kingdom, and in 1346, an empire under Stefan Dušan was established. The Empire was disintegrated and fell to the Ottoman Turks, after the historic Serbian defeat at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, and the northern Serbian territories (Serbian Despotovina) were conquered by 1459, when Smederevo fell. Bosnia fell a few decades after Smederevo. In the period between 1459 and 1804, Serbia remained under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, despite three Austrian invasions and numerous rebellions. Austria The First Serbian Uprising of 1804-1813, lead by Đorđe Petrović (also known as Karađorđe or Black George), and the Second Serbian Uprising of 1815 resulted in the establishment of the Principality of Serbia which was semi-independent from the Ottoman Empire, and the formation of modern Serbia. From 1815 to 1903 the Serbian state was ruled by the House of Obrenović, with a break in the period from 1842 to 1858, when Serbia was ruled by Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević. In 1903, the House of Obrenović was permanently replaced by the House of Karađorđević, descended from Đorđe Petrović. The struggle for a modern society, human rights and a nation state lasted almost three decades and was completed with the adoption of the constitution on 15th February 1835. In 1876 Montenegro, Serbia, and Bosnia declared war against the Ottoman Empire and proclaimed their unification. However, the Treaty of Berlin of 1878, which was agreed at the Congress of Berlin by the Great Powers, granted complete independence only to Serbia and Montenegro, leaving Bosnia and Raška to Austria-Hungary, which blocked their unification until the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, and WWI (1914-1918). After 1918 Serbia, along with Montenegro, was a founding member of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During WWII (1941-1944), Serbia was a Nazi-occupied puppet state. After WWII (in 1945) Serbia was established as one of the federal units of the second Yugoslavia, the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. From 1992, after the collapse of the second Yugoslavia, to 2003, Serbia, together with Montenegro, was part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Since 2003 it has been part of the State Union of Serbia & Montenegro.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Serbia Serbia is located in the Balkans (a historically and geographically distinct region of southeastern Europe) and in the Pannonian Plain (an region of central Europe). It shares borders with Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, the Republic of Macedonia, and Romania. Serbia is landlocked, although access to the Adriatic is available through neighbouring Montenegro, and the Danube River provides shipping access to inland Europe and the Black Sea. Serbia's terrain ranges from the rich, fertile plains of the northern Vojvodina region, limestone ranges and basins in the east, and, in the southeast, ancient mountains and hills. The north is dominated by the Danube River. A tributary, the Morava River, flows through the more mountainous southern regions. The Serbian climate varies between a continental climate in the north, with cold winters, and hot, humid summers with well distributed rainfall patterns, and a more Adriatic climate in the south with hot, dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall inland.

Administrative subdivisions

climate Main article: Subdivisions of Serbia, See also: Regions of Serbia, Districts of Serbia Serbia is divided into 29 districts and the city of Belgrade. The districts are further divided into 108 municipalities. It has two autonomous provinces: Kosovo and Metohija in the south (with 30 municipalities), which is presently under the administration of the United Nations, and Vojvodina in the north (with 54 municipalities). The part of Serbia that is neither in Kosovo nor in Vojvodina is called Central Serbia. Central Serbia is not an administrative division (unlike the two autonomous provinces), and it has no regional government of its own. In English this region is often called "Serbia proper" to denote "the part of the Republic of Serbia not including the provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo", as the Library of Congress puts it [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/yugoslavia/yu_glos.html]. This usage was apparently also employed in Serbo-Croatian during the Yugoslav era (in the form of "uža Srbija" literally: narrow Serbia). Its use in English is purely geographical without any particular political meaning being implied.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Serbia, also see: Politics of Vojvodina, Elections in Serbia, Human rights in Serbia On 4 February 2003 the parliament of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia agreed to a weaker form of cooperation between Serbia and Montenegro within a commonwealth called Serbia and Montenegro. After the fall of Slobodan Milošević on 5 October 2000, the country was governed by the Democratic Opposition of Serbia. Tensions gradually increased within the coalition until the the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) left the government, leaving the Democratic Party (DS) in overall control. Nevertheless, in 2004 the DSS gathered enough support to form the new Government of Serbia, together with G17 Plus and coalition SPO-NS, and the support of the Socialist Party of Serbia. The Prime Minister of Serbia is Vojislav Koštunica, leader of the Democratic Party of Serbia. The current President of Serbia is Boris Tadić, leader of the Democratic Party (DS). He was elected with 53% of the vote in the second round of the Serbian presidential election held on 27 June 2004, following several unsuccessful elections since 2002. The current Prime Minister of the Government of Serbia, as of March 2004, is the former Yugoslav president, Vojislav Koštunica, who replaced Slobodan Milošević as Yugoslav president in October of 2000. Laws concerning the state union must be approved by the Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro, while bills concerning only Serbia are submitted to the National Assembly of Serbia.

Communications

Main article: Communications in Serbia

Transportation

Main article: Transportation in Serbia, also see: Transportation in Serbia and Montenegro Serbia, and in particular the valley of the Morava, is often described as "the crossroads between East and West", which is one of the primary reasons for its turbulent history. The Morava valley route, which avoids mountainous regions, is by far the easiest way of travelling overland from continental Europe to Greece and Asia Minor. European routes E65, E70, E75 and E80, as well as the E662, E761, E762, E763, E771, and E851 pass through the country. The E70 westwards from Belgrade and most of the E75 are modern highways of motorway / autobahn standard or close to that. The Danube River, central Europe's connection to the Black Sea, flows through Serbia. There are three international airports in Serbia: Belgrade, Priština, and the newly rebuilt Niš airport. The national airline carrier is Jat Airways and the railway system is operated by Beovoz in Belgrade and by ZTP Yugoslavia on the national level.

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of Serbia, Demographic history of Serbia Demographic history of Serbia Serbia is populated mostly by Serbs. Significant minorities include Albanians, Hungarians, Muslims, Bosniaks, Roma, Croats, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Romanians, etc. Serbia consists of three territories: the province of Kosovo and Metohia, the province of Vojvodina and Central Serbia (Serbian Cyrillic: Централна Србија, Serbian Latin: Centralna Srbija, English: Central Serbia. Note: The English language sometimes uses the varieties such are "Serbia proper" or "Narrower Serbia"). The two provinces are ethnically diverse, which is a result of the division of the country between the Muslim Ottoman Empire in the south and Catholic Austro-Hungarian Empire in the north. The northern province of Vojvodina is the most developed part of the country in terms of economic strength. Together with the Former Yugoslav republics of Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Vojvodina was under the administration of Austria-Hungary before the First World War. Vojvodina is probably the most ethnically diverse territory in Europe, probably discluding London, a fact which tends to surprise most people who had long associated Yugoslavia and the name of Serbia through the prism of the 1990s. The names used for peoples national affiliation number more than 25. According to the last completed census (2002), the province has a population of about 2 million, of which: Serbs 65%, Hungarians 14.3%, Slovaks 2.79%, Croats 2.78%, undeclared 2.71%, Yugoslavs 2.45%, Montenegrins 1.75%, Romanians 1.50%, Roma 1.43%, Bunjevci 0.97%, Ruthenians 0.77%, Macedonians 0.58%, regional affiliation 0.50%, Ukrainians 0.23%, others (Albanians, Slovenians, Germans, Poles etc). See also: Demographic history of Vojvodina, Ethnic groups of Vojvodina ;Population statistics of Serbia (Estimate May 2005):
- Serbia (total): 9,396,411
- Vojvodina: 2,116,725
- Central Serbia: 5,479,686
- Kosovo and Metohija: 1,800,000

Cities

Main article: Serbian cities ;Main cities (over 100,000 inhabitants) - census 2002 : :Beograd (Belgrade): 1,280,600 (1,574,050 including neighbouring places) :Novi Sad: 215,600 (298,139 including neighbouring places) :Priština: 200,000 (251,784 including neighbouring places) :Niš: 173,400 (234,863 including neighbouring places) :Kragujevac: 146,000 (175,182 including neighbouring places) :Subotica: 99,500 (147,758 including neighbouring places) See also: List of cities in Serbia and Montenegro

Culture

Main article: Serbian culture See also:
- Serbian language
- Serbian literature
- Serbian law
- Music of Serbia
- Folklore and traditional music of Serbia
- Classical and contemporary music of Serbia
- Serbian cuisine
- Serbian art
- Painting in Serbia
- Sculpture in Serbia
- Contemporary art in Serbia
- Photography in Serbia
- Cinematography in Serbia
- Architecture of Serbia
- Religion in Serbia
- Serb Orthodox Church
- Famous Serbian people
- History and culture of Serbs in Vojvodina
- Savez Izviđača Srbije i Crne Gore Categories:
- Serbian culture
- European culture

Sport

Main article: Sport in Serbia, Also see: :Category:Serbian sportspeople

Economy

Main article: Economy of Serbia Latest economy statistics: ;Gross Domestic Product: :Real GDP:$25.98 Billion (2004) :Real GDP Per Capita: $3180 (Expected for 2005) :Real GDP growth rate: 7% (2004) :Real GDP growth rate in Q1 2005: 5.3% :Real GDP growth rate in Q2 2005: 6.8% :Real GDP growth rate in Q1 and Q2 2005: 6.1% ;Other statistics (in detail on economy page): :Industrial production growth rate: 7.1% (2004) :Unemployment rate: 18.50% (Q1 2005) :Inflation: 13.7% (2004) :Foreign debt: $12.97 Billion (49.9% of GDP) :Direct foreign investment estimated for 2005: $1.5 to $2.0 Billion

Crime

Main article: Crime in Serbia

Holidays in Serbia

- Dates in 2005 only

Miscellaneous

- On August 17 2004 the National Assembly of Serbia adopted Bože Pravde as the country's anthem.
- In addition, the Obrenović royal coat of arms now replaces the Coat of Arms of Serbia adopted after World War II. It was first used in the 19th century. The arms are those of the royal Obrenović dynasty; they are used in two versions, the large (pictured) and small (just the central shield with eagle and crown surmounting). Use of these arms is 'recommended' which means that the coat of arms is not yet official. It will become so if adoption of the Obrenović arms is approved by more than 50% of the voters in a constitutional referendum.
- Asteroid 1564 Srbija is discovered by Milorad B. Protić and named after Serbia.

External links

Government links

- [http://www.srbija.sr.gov.yu/?change_lang=en Serbian Government]
- [http://www.parlament.sr.gov.yu/content/eng/index.asp National Assembly of Serbia]
- [http://www.seio.sr.gov.yu/ The EU integration Office of Serbian Government]
- [http://www.narodnakancelarija.srbija.yu/ People's Office of Serbian President]
- [http://www.nbs.yu/english/index.htm National Bank of Serbia]
- [http://www.rts.co.yu/ RTS - Serbian Broadcasting Corporation]
- [http://www.statserb.sr.gov.yu/ Republic of Serbia Statistical Office]
- [http://www.heritage.org.yu/ Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Serbia]
- [http://www.serbia-tourism.org/index_e.php/ National Tourism Organisation of Serbia]

Popular websites

- [http://www.b92.net/ B92]
- [http://www.krstarica.com/ Krstarica]
- [http://www.burek.co.yu/ Burek Forum]
- [http://www.serbiancafe.com/ Serbian Cafe]
- [http://www.elitesecurity.org/ eLiteSecurity] Category:Subdivisions of Serbia and Montenegro als:Serbien ko:세르비아 ja:セルビア simple:Serbia

1380

Events

- September 8 - Battle of Kulikovo - Russian forces under Grand Prince Dmitri Ivanovich of Moscow defeat a mixed army of Tatars and Mongols (the Golden Horde), stopping their advance at Kulikovo.
- September 16 - Charles V of France dies and is succeeded by his son Charles VI.
- Haakon VI of Norway dies and is succeeded by his son Olaf III of Denmark as Olaf IV of Norway.
- Iceland, as a part of Norway passes under the Danish crown.

Births

- February 11 - Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini, Italian humanist (died 1459)
- September 8 - Saint Bernardino of Siena, Italian Franciscan missionary (died 1444)
- Johannes Abezier, bishop (died 1424)
- Ghiyath al-Kashi, Persian astronomer and mathematician (died 1429)
- Thomas à Kempis, German monk and writer (died 1471)
- John de Sutton V, English nobleman (died 1406)

Deaths

- January 5 - Philippa Plantagenet, Countess of Ulster (born 1355)
- April 29 - Catherine of Siena, Italian saint (born 1347)
- July 26 - Emperor Komyo of Japan (born 1322)
- September 16 - King Charles V of France (born 1338)
- Bertrand du Guesclin, Constable of France
- Dafydd ap Gwilym, Welsh poet
- Haakon VI of Norway (born 1340)
- Nissim of Gerona, rabbi (born 1320) Category:1380 ko:1380년

Battle of Kulikovo

The Battle of Kulikovo (Куликовская битва in Russian), also called Battle on the Snipes' Field, was fought by the Tatars and Mongols (the Golden Horde) against the Russians. The battle took place on September 8, 1380 at the Kulikovo Field near the Don River (now Tula Oblast) and resulted in a Russian victory. The battle's site is commemorated by a memorial church, built to a design by Aleksey Shchusev. Combined Russian armies under the command of the Grand Duke of Vladimir, Dmitri Ivanovich of Moscow (called "Dmitry of the Don" afterwards) faced much larger Horde forces under the command of Mamai, the strong military leader of the Golden Horde. Mamai's allies, Grand Prince Oleg of Ryazan and Grand Prince Jogaila of Lithuania were late to the battle. The old Russian poem Zadonshchina says 150,000 Russians and 300,000 Tataro-Mongols, but the physical size of the Kulikovo Field does not allow such a quantity of troops. Most probable figures would be 80,000 Russians and 125,000 Tataro-Mongols. Zadonshchina The battle was opened by a single combat of two champions. The Russian champion was Alexander Peresvet, a monk from the Trinity Abbey sent to the battle by Saint Sergius. The Horde champion was Temir-murza (also Chelubey or Cheli-bey). The champions killed each other in the first run. The legend states that Peresvet did not fall from the saddle, while Temir-murza fell. After approximately 3 hours of battle (from noon to 3 p.m.) the Russian forces were successful, although suffering great casualties, in holding off the Horde's attack. The cavalry of Vladimir, Prince of Serpukhov (Dmitri's cousin), led by the chief strategist of the battle, Dmitri Bobrok, Prince of Volynia launched a flanking surprise counter strike and achieved victory over the Horde forces. Mamai escaped to Crimea, where he was assassinated by his enemies, leaving the Horde under the command of