:: wikimiki.org ::

Josif Runjanin

Josif Runjanin

Josif Runjanin (December 8, 1821 – February 2, 1878) was a Serbian composer and lieutenant-colonel in the Austro-Hungarian Army. Runjanin's first name is more often than not incorrectly spelled as Josip rather than Josif. Runjanin was born in Vinkovci (Srijem, then Habsburg monarchy, now Croatia). His family originates from Loznica (Serbia), and moved initially to Bijeljina (in Semberija, Bosnia) and thence to Slavonia and eventually Srem. They were ethnic Serbs of the Orthodox Christian faith. Young Runjanin was christened in the Orthodox shrine of the Descent of the Holy Ghost (Silaska Svetog Duha) in Vinkovci. The ceremony was carried out by the renowned local priest Adam Popović. He died at the age of 57 in Novi Sad (Bačka, now in Serbia and Montenegro) and was buried according to the Orthodox tradition at the Cemetery of the Holy Ascent (Uspensko groblje) in Novi Sad where he remains to this very day. During his lifetime he was recognized for having composed two major songs which are popular to this day, Rado Srbin ide u vojnike (Gladly will the Serb enlist). He also composed the music for the Croatian national anthem, Lijepa naša domovino. Runjanin, Josif Runjanin, Josif Runjanin, Josif Runjanin, Josif Category:Novi Sad Category:People of Vojvodina

December 8

December 8 is the 342nd day (343rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 23 days remaining.

Events

- 1854 - Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogma of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Virgin Mary was born free of original sin.
- 1869 - Timothy Eaton founds T. Eaton Co. Limited in Toronto, Canada.
- 1886 - The American Federation of Labor is founded by Samuel Gompers in Columbus, Ohio.
- 1907 - King Gustav V of Sweden accedes to the Swedish throne.
- 1914 - World War I: Battle of the Falkland Islands - The Kaiserliche Marine under the command of Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee is engaged by the Royal Navy.
- 1941 - World War II: Pacific War - After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour the U.S. Congress passes a declaration of war against Japan.
- 1941 - World War II: Pacific War - China officially declares war against Japan, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour.
- 1941 - World War II: Battle of Hong Kong - The Japanese invade the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong less than 8 hours after the attack on Pearl Harbour.
- 1941 - Holocaust: Gas vans are first used as a means of execution, at the Chelmno concentration camp near Lodz in Poland.
- 1949 - Chinese Civil War: The capital of the Republic of China is moved from Nanjing to Taipei, Taiwan.
- 1959 - President of the United States, Eisenhower watches Pakistan vs Australia cricket test match at Karachi.
- 1966 - The Greek ferry Heraklion sinks in a storm in the Aegean Sea, killing over 200.
- 1968 - NLS (a system for which hypertext and the computer mouse were developed) is publicly demonstrated for the first time in San Francisco.
- 1969 - An Olympic Airways DC-6B crashes near Athens during a storm, killing 93 people.
- 1972 - United Airlines Flight 533 crashes near Chicago Midway Airport, killing 45 people.
- 1976 - The Eagles release the album Hotel California.
- 1980 - John Lennon is shot and killed by Mark David Chapman outside the Dakota Building in New York City.
- 1987 - The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed.
- 1987 - The Queen Street Massacre: Frank Vitkovic shoots and kills 8 people at the offices of Australia Post in Melbourne, Australia before being killed himself.
- 1991 - The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine sign an agreement dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States.
- 1991 - The Romanian Constitution is adopted in a referendum.
- 1993 - The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is signed into law by US President Bill Clinton.
- 1994 - US President Bill Clinton signs a bill enacting United States participation in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
- 1998 - Tadjena massacre: 81 people are killed by armed groups in Algeria.
- 2004 - The Cuzco Declaration is signed in Cuzco, Peru, establishing the South American Community of Nations.
- 2004 - Former Pantera guitarist Darrell Abbott is shot and killed on stage by Nathan Gale at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio.
- 2004 - The population of the Australian state of Victoria reaches 5 million for the first time.
- 2005 - Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 slides off the runway at Chicago Midway Airport, killing a 6-year-old boy and injuring 11 other people.
- 2005 - Ante Gotovina, Croatian general accused of war crimes, was captured in the Playa de las Americas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife by the Spanish police

Births

- 65 BC - Horace, Roman poet (d. 8 BC)
- 1542 - Mary Queen of Scots (d. 1587)
- 1626 - Queen Christina of Sweden (d. 1689)
- 1678 - Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole of Wolterton, English diplomat (d. 1757)
- 1708 - Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1765)
- 1730 - Jan Ingenhousz, Dutch-born British physiologist and botanist (d. 1799)
- 1765 - Eli Whitney, American inventor (d. 1825)
- 1815 - Adolph Menzel, German painter and graphic artist (d. 1905)
- 1816 - August Belmont, Sr., Prussian-born American financier (d. 1890)
- 1832 - Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian author and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1910)
- 1848 - Joel Chandler Harris, American author and folklorist (d. 1908)
- 1861 - William C. Durant, American automobile pioneer (d. 1947)
- 1861 - Aristide Maillol, French sculptor (d. 1944)
- 1862 - Georges Feydeau, French playwright (d. 1921)
- 1864 - Camille Claudel, French graphic artist (d. 1943)
- 1865 - Jean Sibelius, Finnish composer (d. 1957)
- 1886 - Diego Rivera, Mexican painter (d. 1957)
- 1890 - Bohuslav Martinů, Czech composer (d. 1959)
- 1894 - James Thurber, American writer (d. 1961)
- 1911 - Lee J. Cobb, American actor (d. 1976)
- 1915 - Ernest Lehman, American screenwriter (d. 2005)
- 1918 - Gérard Souzay, French baritone (d. 2004)
- 1919 - Peter Tali Coleman, American politician (d. 1997)
- 1923 - Rudolph Pariser, Chinese-born American chemist
- 1925 - Sammy Davis Jr., American actor and singer (d. 1990)
- 1927 - Vladimir Shatalov, Soviet Union-born cosmonaut
- 1930 - Maximilian Schell, Austrian-born Swiss actor, film director, and author
- 1933 - Flip Wilson, American comedian (d. 1998)
- 1936 - David Carradine, American actor
- 1937 - James MacArthur, American actor
- 1937 - Arne Næss Jr., Norwegian mountain climber and businessman (d. 2004)
- 1939 - Sir James Galway, Northern Irish flautist
- 1943 - Jim Morrison, American singer (The Doors) (d. 1971)
- 1943 - Mary Woronov, American actress
- 1947 - Gregg Allman, American musician
- 1947 - Thomas R. Cech, American chemist and Nobel Prize laureate
- 1948 - Gary Thain, New Zealand bassist (Uriah Heep) (d. 1975)
- 1950 - Rick Baker, American film makeup artist
- 1951 - Jan Eggum, Norwegian singer-songwriter
- 1953 - Kim Basinger, American actress
- 1956 - Warren Cuccurullo, American musician
- 1957 - Phil Collen, British guitarist (Def Leppard)
- 1961 - Ann Coulter, American author, political commentator, and attorney
- 1962 - Marty Friedman, American guitarist
- 1964 - Teri Hatcher, American actress
- 1966 - Sinéad O'Connor, Irish musician
- 1968 - Mike Mussina, American baseball player
- 1973 - Corey Taylor, American singer (Slipknot)
- 1975 - Kevin Harvick, American NASCAR driver
- 1976 - Dominic Monaghan, German-born British actor
- 1976 - Naimee Coleman, Irish singer and songwriter
- 1978 - Ian Somerhalder, American actor
- 1978 - Vernon Wells, American baseball player
- 1982 - Michael Essien, Ghanaian international footballer
- 1986 - Amir Khan, British boxer

Deaths

- 899 - Arnulf of Carinthia (b. 850)
- 1626 - John Davies, English poet (b. 1569)
- 1632 - Philippe van Lansberge, Flemish astronomer (b. 1561)
- 1638 - Ivan Gundulic, Croatian poet (b. 1589)
- 1643 - John Pym, English statesman (b. 1583)
- 1649 - Noël Chabanel, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1613)
- 1680 - Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester, English politician (b. 1606)
- 1691 - Richard Baxter, English clergyman (b. 1615)
- 1695 - Barthélemy d'Herbelot de Molainville, French orientalist (b. 1625)
- 1709 - Thomas Corneille, French dramatist (b. 1625)
- 1722 - Liselotte von der Pfalz, Duchess of Orléans and sister-in-law of King Louis XIV of France (b. 1652)
- 1745 - Etienne Fourmont, French orientalist (b. 1683)
- 1744 - Marie-Anne de Mailly-Nesle, Duchess de Châteauroux, French mistress of King Louis XV of France (b. 1717)
- 1746 - Charles Radclyffe, British politician (b. 1693)
- 1756 - William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington, British statesman and diplomat
- 1768 - Jean Denis Attiret, French Jesuit missionary and painter (b. 1702)
- 1830 - Benjamin Constant, Swiss writer (b. 1767)
- 1859 - Thomas de Quincey, British author (b. 1785)
- 1864 - George Boole, British mathematician and philosopher, inventor of Boolean algebra (b. 1815)
- 1907 - King Oscar II of Sweden (b. 1829)
- 1917 - Mendele Moykher Sforim, Russian writer (b. 1836)
- 1952 - Charles Lightoller, British second officer on the Titanic (b. 1874)
- 1958 - Tris Speaker, American baseball player (b. 1888)
- 1963 - Field Marshal Sarit Dhanarajata, Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1908)
- 1978 - Golda Meir, Russian-born Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1898)
- 1980 - John Lennon, British musician, singer, and songwriter (b. 1940)
- 1980 - Darby Crash, American singer and songwriter (The Germs) (b. 1958)
- 1982 - Marty Robbins, American singer (b. 1925)
- 1983 - Slim Pickens, American actor (b. 1919)
- 1984 - Luther Adler, American actor (b. 1903)
- 1992 - William Shawn, American magazine editor (b. 1917)
- 1994 - Tom Jobim, Brazilian composer and arranger (b. 1927)
- 1999 - Kuczka Péter, Hungarian writer, poet, and science fiction editor (b. 1923)
- 2001 - Don Tennant, American advertising executive (b. 1922)
- 2003 - Rubén González, Cuban pianist (Buena Vista Social Club)
- 2003 - Hans Hotter, German bass-baritone (b. 1909)
- 2004 - Dimebag Darrell (Darrell Abbott), American guitarist (b. 1966)
- 2005 - Georgiy Zhzhonov Russian actor and author (b. 1915)

Holidays and observances

- Buddhism - The Enlightenment of Gautama Buddha
- R.C. Saints - The solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary: a Holy Day of Obligation
- Also see December 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Bulgaria - Day of the Student (studentski praznik)
- Italy - In Milan, the opera season starts.
- Malta - Public Holiday.
- Romania - Constitution Day
- Afflux (50 Aftermath) (Discordianism)
- Panama - Mother's Day

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/8 BBC: On This Day] ---- December 7 - December 9 - November 8 - January 8 -- listing of all days ko:12월 8일 ms:8 Disember ja:12月8日 simple:December 8 th:8 ธันวาคม

1821

1821 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar).

Events

- March 25 - The Orthodox Metropolitan Germanos of Patras proclaims national uprising. Greece declares its independence from the Ottoman Empire, beginning the Greek War of Independence.
- June 19 - Decisive defeat of the Philikí Etaireía by the Ottomans at Drăgăşani (in Wallachia).
- June 24 - Simón Bolívar wins the Battle of Carabobo, ensuring Venezuela's independency from Spain. (See Venezuela's independence.)
- July 10 - The United States takes possession of its newly-bought territory of Florida from Spain.
- July 28 - Peru declares independence from Spain. (See Peru's Independence from Spain).
- September 15 - Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica gain independence from Spain. (See History of Central America)
- September 27 - Mexico gains its independence from Spain. (See Mexican War of Independence.)
- August 10 - Missouri is admitted as the 24th U.S. state. (See History of Missouri.)
- September 11 - Greek War of Independence - Tripoli falls to attacking Greeks; Greeks proceed to kill most of the Turkish population
- September 15 - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua jointly declare independence from Spain.
- September 18 - Amherst College is founded.
- November 9 - the first US pharmacy college holds classes in Philadelphia.
- November 16 - American Old West: Santa Fe Trail used by first Caucasian.

Births

- January 8 - James Longstreet, American Confederate general (d. 1904)
- January 8 - W.H.L. Wallace, American Civil War general (d. 1862)
- February 3 - Elizabeth Blackwell, first American female physician (d. 1910)
- February 11 - Hermann Allmers, writer (d. 1902)
- February 11 - Auguste Edouard Mariette, French Egyptologist (d. 1881)
- February 17 - Lola Montez, Irish Spanish dancer and royal mistress (d. 1861)
- February 19 - August Schleicher, German linguist (d. 1868)
- March 1 - Joseph Hubert Reinkens, German Old Catholic bishop (d. 1896)
- April 9 - Charles-Pierre Baudelaire, French poet and writer (d. 1867)
- May 8 - Jean Henri Dunant, Swiss founder of the Red Cross, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1910)
- May 8 - William Henry Vanderbilt, American entrepreneur (d. 1885)
- May 16 - Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematician (d. 1894)
- May 17 - Sebastian Kneipp, German naturopath (d. 1897)
- July 18 - Pauline Garcia-Viardot, French mezzo-soprano and composer (d. 1910)
- August 10 - Jay Cooke, American financier (d. 1905)
- October 13 - Rudolf Virchow, German physician, pathologist, biologist, and politician (d. 1902)
- November 11 - Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian writer (d. 1881)
- December 12 - Gustave Flaubert, French writer (d. 1880)
- December 25 - Clara Barton, First president of American Red Cross (d. 1912)
- Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott, Canadian politician (d. 1893)
- Frederick Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1902]

Deaths

- [[January 4]] - [[Elizabeth Ann Seton, American saint (b. 1774)
- February 23 - John Keats, British poet (b. 1795)
- March 13 - John Hunter, second Governor of New South Wales (b. 1737)
- May 5 - Napoleon I of France (b. 1769)
- May 19 - Camille Jordan, French politician (b. 1771)
- June 7 - Tudor Vladimirescu, Wallachian rebellion-leader (b. cca. 1780)
- September 10 - Johann Dominicus Fiorillo, German painter and art historian
- November 8 - Jean Rapp, French general (b. 1771)

February 2

February 2 is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 332 days remaining (333 in leap years).

Events

- 962 - Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years.
- 1032 - Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes King of Burgundy.
- 1119 - Callixtus II becomes Pope.
- 1509 - Battle of Diu takes place near Diu, India, between Portugal and Turkey.
- 1536 - Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- 1653 - New Amsterdam (later renamed New York City) is incorporated.
- 1709 - Alexander Selkirk is rescued from shipwreck on a desert island, inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
- 1812 - Russia establishes a fur trading colony at Fort Ross, along the California coast.
- 1848 - Mexican-American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed ending the war.
- 1848 - California Gold Rush: The first ship with Chinese emigrants seeking fortune in California's gold country arrive in San Francisco.
- 1870 - It is revealed that the famed Cardiff Giant was just carved gypsum and not the petrified remains of a human.
- 1876 - The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed.
- 1878 - Greece declares war on Turkey.
- 1880 - The first electric streetlight is installed in Wabash, Indiana.
- 1882 - The Knights of Columbus are formed in New Haven, Connecticut.
- 1887 - In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed.
- 1897 - The Pennsylvania state capitol is destroyed by fire.
- 1899 - The Australian Premiers' Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia's capital (Canberra) between Sydney and Melbourne.
- 1920 - Estonia declares its independence from Russia.
- 1920 - France occupies Memel.
- 1925 - Dog sleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum, inspiring the Iditarod race.
- 1933 - Adolf Hitler dissolves the German Parliament.
- 1935 - The polygraph machine is tested for the first time. Leonard Keeler conducts the experiment in Portage, Wisconsin.
- 1940 - Frank Sinatra debuts with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra.
- 1943 - World War II: The last Nazi forces surrender to the Soviets after the Battle of Stalingrad.
- 1945 - World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill leave to meet with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin at the Yalta Conference.
- 1952 - A tropical storm forms north of Cuba and moves northeast making landfall in Florida. It is the earliest reported formation of a tropical storm on record in the Atlantic basin.
- 1962 - For the first time in 400 years Neptune and Pluto align.
- 1967 - The American Basketball Association is formed.
- 1971 - After a coup in Uganda, Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader.
- 1972 - The British embassy in Dublin is destroyed in protest over Bloody Sunday
- 1976 - Groundhog Day gale of 1976 hits the north-eastern United States and south-eastern Canada.
- 1979 - Sid Vicious dies of a heroin overdose.
- 1980 - Abscam: Reports surface that FBI personnel were targeting members of the U.S. Congress in a sting operation.
- 1980 - Founding congress of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey.
- 1982 - Hama Massacre: The government of Syria attacks the town of Hama and kills thousands of people.
- 1986 - Nurse Anita Cobby is found dead in a paddock in Prospect, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. She had been robbed, raped, and murdered. Five men (Micheal Murphy, Gary Murphy, Les Murphy, Micheal Murdoch, and John Travers) are later sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in June of 1987 for Anita Cobby's murder.
- 1989 - Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet Union armored column leaves Kabul, ending nine years of military occupation.
- 1990 - Apartheid: In South Africa President F.W. de Klerk allows the African National Congress to legally function again and promises to set Nelson Mandela free.
- 1998 - A Cebu Pacific Air DC-9-32 crashes into a mountain near Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, killing 104.

Births

- 1208 - James I of Aragon (d. 1276)
- 1455 - King John of Denmark (d. 1513)
- 1494 - Bona Sforza, queen of Sigismund I of Poland (d. 1557)
- 1502 - Damião de Góis, Portuguese philosopher (d. 1574)
- 1506 - René de Birague, French cardinal and chancellor (d. 1583)
- 1522 - Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician (d. 1565)
- 1600 - Gabriel Naudé, French librarian and scholar (d. 1653)
- 1613 - Noël Chabanel, French Jesuit missionary (d. 1649)
- 1621 - Johannes Schefferus, Alsatian-born humanist (d. 1679)
- 1649 - Pope Benedict XIII (d. 1730)
- 1650 - Nell Gwynne, English actress and royal mistress (d. 1687)
- 1669 - Louis Marchand, French organist and harpsichordist (d. 1732)
- 1695 - William Borlase, English naturalist (d. 1772)
- 1700 - Johann Christoph Gottsched, German writer (d. 1766)
- 1711 - Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz, Austrian diplomat (d. 1794)
- 1714 - Gottfried August Homilius, German composer (d. 1785)
- 1717 - Ernst Gideon Freiherr von Laudon, Austrian field marshal (d. 1790)
- 1754 - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, French politician (d. 1838)
- 1802 - Jean Baptiste Boussingault, French chemist (d. 1887)
- 1803 - Albert Sidney Johnston, American Confederate general (d. 1862)
- 1829 - Alfred Brehm, German zoologist (d. 1884)
- 1846 - Francis Marion Smith, American borax magnate (d. 1931)
- 1841 - François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss hydrologist (d. 1912)
- 1875 - Fritz Kreisler, Austrian violinist (d. 1962)
- 1878 - Alfréd Hajós, Hungarian swimmer (d. 1955)
- 1882 - James Joyce, Irish author (d. 1941)
- 1887 - Ernst Hanfstängl, German pianist and politician (d. 1975)
- 1888 - Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (d. 1969)
- 1890 - Charles Correll, American actor (d. 1972)
- 1895 - George Halas, American football player, coach, and league founder (d. 1983)
- 1897 - Howard Johnson, American hotelier (d. 1972)
- 1901 - Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian violinist (d. 1987)
- 1905 - Ayn Rand, Russian-born author (d. 1982)
- 1906 - Gale Gordon, American actor (d. 1995)
- 1913 - Poul Reichhardt, Danish actor (d. 1985)
- 1915 - Abba Eban, Israeli diplomat (d. 2002)
- 1918 - Hella S. Haasse, Dutch writer
- 1923 - James Dickey, American poet and author (d. 1997)
- 1923 - Bonita Granville, American actress (d. 1988)
- 1923 - Red Schoendienst, baseball player and manager
- 1923 - Liz Smith, American gossip columnist
- 1924 - Elfi von Dassanowsky, Austrian-American producer and musician
- 1925 - Elaine Stritch, American actress
- 1926 - Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, French politician
- 1927 - Stan Getz, American musician (d. 1991)
- 1931 - Dries van Agt, Dutch politician
- 1931 - Judith Viorst, American author
- 1932 - Robert Mandan, American actor
- 1937 - Tom Smothers, American musician and comedian
- 1942 - Christine Keeler, British model
- 1942 - Graham Nash, American musician
- 1944 - Geoffrey Hughes, British actor
- 1947 - Farrah Fawcett, American actress
- 1947 - Melanie Safka, American singer
- 1949 - Brent Spiner, American actor
- 1949 - Ross Valory, American musician (Journey)
- 1954 - Christie Brinkley, American model
- 1963 - Eva Cassidy, American singer (d. 1996)
- 1966 - Robert DeLeo, American musician (Stone Temple Pilots)
- 1967 - Arturs Irbe, Latvian hockey player
- 1969 - Valeri Karpin, Russian footballer
- 1972 - Dana International, Israeli singer
- 1975 - Ieroklis Stoltidis, Greek football player
- 1976 - James Hickman, British swimmer
- 1977 - Shakira, Colombian singer
- 1983 - Jordin Tootoo, Canadian hockey player
- 1987 - Martin Spanjers, American actor

Deaths

- 1124 - Duke Bořivoj II of Bohemia
- 1218 - Konstantin of Rostov, Prince of Novgorod (b. 1186)
- 1250 - King Eric XI of Sweden (b. 1216)
- 1461 - Owen Tudor, Welsh founder of the Tudor dynasty of England
- 1529 - Baldassare Castiglione, Italian writer (b. 1478)
- 1580 - Bessho Nagaharu, Japanese retainer (b. 1558)
- 1594 - Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Italian composer (b. 1525)
- 1648 - George Abbot, English writer
- 1660 - Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (b. 1615)
- 1660 - Gaston, Duke of Orléans, French politician (b. 1608)
- 1661 - Lucas Holstenius, German humanist (b. 1596)
- 1688 - Abraham Duquesne, French naval officer (b. 1610)
- 1704 - Guillaume François Antoine, Marquis de l'Hôpital, French mathematician (b. 1661)
- 1712 - Martin Lister, English naturalist and physician
- 1714 - John Sharp, English Archbishop of Yorkshire (b. 1643)
- 1768 - Robert Smith, English mathematician (b. 1689)
- 1769 - Pope Clement XIII (b. 1693)
- 1802 - Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, British statesman (b. 1713)
- 1895 - Archduke Albert, Austrian general (b. 1817)
- 1907 - Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist (b. 1834)
- 1922 - William Desmond Taylor, Irish film director (b. 1872)
- 1925 - Jaap Eden, Dutch skater and cyclist (b. 1873)
- 1942 - Daniil Kharms, Russian playwright (b. 1906)
- 1948 - Bevil Rudd, South African athlete (b. 1894)
- 1950 - Constantin Carathéodory, Greek mathematician (b. 1873)
- 1956 - Charles Grapewin, American actor (b. 1869)
- 1969 - Boris Karloff, English actor (b. 1887)
- 1970 - Bertrand Russell, British mathematician and philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (b. 1872)
- 1979 - Sid Vicious, English musician (Sex Pistols) (b. 1957)
- 1980 - William Howard Stein, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- 1987 - Castilho, Brazilian footballer (b. 1927)
- 1987 - Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist (b. 1922)
- 1992 - Bert Parks, American television host (b. 1914)
- 1995 - Donald Pleasence, English actor (b. 1919)
- 1996 - Gene Kelly, American dancer, actor, and director (b. 1912)
- 1997 - Sanford Meisner, American actor (b. 1904)
- 2003 - Lou Harrison, American composer (b. 1917)
- 2004 - Bernard McEveety, American film director (b. 1924)
- 2005 - Max Schmeling, German boxer (b. 1905)

Holidays and observances

- Ancient Latvia - Veja Diena observed
- Catholicism - Candlemas, The Presentation of the Lord, The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, World Day for Consecrated Life (also February 3 in the United States)
- France - Crêpe Day
- Paganism - Imbolc
- Scotland - A quarter day in the Christian calendar (due to Candlemas)
- United States and Canada - Groundhog Day

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/2 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050202.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- February 1 - February 3 - January 2 - March 2 -- listing of all days February 02 ko:2월 2일 ms:2 Februari ja:2月2日 simple:February 2 th:2 กุมภาพันธ์

Serb

Serbs (in the Serbian language Срби, Srbi) are a south Slavic people living chiefly in Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Population

Most Serbs live in the traditional Serbian heartland of Serbia and Montenegro. Large Serb populations also live in Croatia (where they were a constitutional nation up to 1990; largely on the territory that during the 1990s constituted the internationally unrecognized Republic of Serbian Krajina) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (where they are a constituent nation), principally in the Republika Srpska, one of the country's two entities. Much smaller Serb minorities also exist in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Slovenia, Romania, Albania and Hungary. A lot of Serbs also live in the diaspora, notably in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, USA, Canada and Australia. The largest urban populations of Serbs in the former Yugoslavia are to be found in Belgrade (over 1,500,000), Novi Sad about (250,000), Niš (200,000) and Banja Luka in Bosnia (200,000). Abroad, Vienna is said to be home to the largest Serb population followed by Chicago, Illinois (and its surrounding area) with Toronto and Southern Ontario coming in third. Serbs constitute about 70% of the population of Serbia and Montenegro, 6.6 million. Another 1.6 million live in neighbouring countries of the Balkans, totalling 8.2 million Serbs in former Yugoslavia. The number of Serbs in the diaspora is not known but is estimated to be between 1 and 1.5 million, including people of Serbian descent. The maximum number of Serbs thus ranges anywhere around 9 to 10 million, depending on the estimation used for the diaspora.

Culture

Contribution to humanity

Serbs have played a significant role in the development of the arts and sciences. Prominent individuals include the scientists Nikola Tesla, Mihajlo Pupin, Ruđer Bošković, Jovan Cvijic, Milutin Milanković and Mileva Marić; the renowned mathematicians Jovan Karamata, Mihailo Petrović, and Đuro Kurepa; the famous composer Josip Runjanin; the celebrated authors Dositej Obradovic, Milos Crnjanski, and Ivo Andric; the prolific inventor Ogneslav Kostovic Stepanovic; the polymath Djura Jaksic; the famous sports stars Vlade Divac and Peja Stojaković; and the actress Mila Jovović (half Serbian). The Serb ruler during the middle ages (see List of Serbian rulers) Stephen Nemanja and his son, Saint Sava founded the monastery of Hilandar for the Serbian Orthodox Church, one of the greatest and oldest Orthodox Christian monuments on Earth. The mother of the last (Eastern) Roman Emperor Constantine XI Paleologos Dragases was Serbian princess Helena Dragash (Jelena Dragaš), and he liked to be known by her Serbian surname of Dragash. According to the National Enquirer, author Ian Fleming patterned James Bond after Dusko Popov, a Serbian double agent nicknamed Tricycle. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed Slavonic March (Marche Slavée) in 1876 known at first as the “Serbo-Russian March” based on Serbian folk melody “Come, my Dearest, why So Sad this Morning?”. For more famous Serbs, see List of Serbs.

Language

Most Serbs speak the Serbian language, a member of the South Slavic group of languages. While the Serbian identity is to some extent linguistic, apart from the Cyrillic alphabet which they use along with Latin alphabet, the language is very similar to the standard Croatian (see Differences in standard Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian) and some linguists still consider it part of the common Serbo-Croatian language. There are several variants of Serbian language. The older forms of Serbian are Old Serbian and Russo-Serbian, a version of the Church Slavonic language). Some members of the Serbian diaspora do not speak the language (mostly in the US, Canada and UK) but are still considered Serbs by ethnic origin or descent. Non-Serbs who studied the Serbian language include such prominent individuals as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and J. R. R. Tolkien; see list of Serbian language speakers, learners, etc.

Surnames

Most Serbian surnames have the surname suffix -ić (IPA: /it^j/, Cyrillic: -ић). This is often transcribed as -ic. In history, Serbian names have often been transcribed with a phonetic ending, -ich or -itch. This form is often associated with Serbs from before the early 20th century: hence Milutin Milanković is usually referred to, for historical reasons, as Milutin Milankovitch. The -ić suffix is a Slavic diminutive, originally functioning to create patronymics. Thus the surname Petrić signifies little Petar, as does, for example, a common prefix Mac ("son of") in Scottish and Fitz in Irish names. It is estimated that some two thirds of all Serbian surnames end in -ić but that some 80% of Serbs carry such a surname with many common names being spread out among tens and even hundreds of non-related extended families. Other common surname suffixes are -ov or -in which is the Slavic possessive case suffix, thus Nikola's son becomes Nikolin, Petar's son Petrov, and Jovan's son Jovanov. The two suffixes are often combined. The most common surnames are Nikolić, Petrović, Jovanović.

Religion

The Serbian identity is based on Orthodox Christianity and on the Serbian Orthodox Church, to the extent that some Serb nationalists claim that those who are not its faithful are not Serbs. This is wrong: conversion of the south Slavs from paganism to Christianity took place before the Great Schism, the split between the Greek East and the Catholic West. After the Schism, those who lived under the Orthodox sphere of influence became Orthodox and those who lived under the Catholic sphere of influence became Catholic. Some ethnologists consider that the distinct Serb and Croatian identities relate to religion rather than ethnicity. With the arrival of the Ottoman Empire, some Serbs and Croats converted to Islam. This was particularly — but not wholly — so in Bosnia. The best known Catholic Serb is Ivo Andrić and the best known Muslim Serb is probably either Mehmed Paša Sokolović or Meša Selimović.

Symbols

The Serbian flag is a red-blue-white tricolour. It is often combined with one or both of the other Serb symbols.
- The white two-headed eagle was the coat of arms of the House of Nemanjić.
- The Serbian cross. If displayed on a field, traditionally it is on red field, but could be used with no field at all. Both the eagle and the cross, besides being the basis for various Serbian coats of arms through history, are bases for the symbols of various Serbian organisations, political parties, institutions and companies. The cross, being easy to draw, is often spraypainted, carrying an obvious political signature. Serbian folk attire varies, mostly because of the very diverse geography and climate of the territory inhabited by the Serbs. Some parts of it are, however, common:
- A traditional shoe that is called the opanak. It is recognisable by its distinctive tips that spiral backward. Each region of Serbia has a different kind of tips.
- A traditional hat that is called the šajkača. It is easily recognisable by its top part that looks like the letter V or like the bottom of a boat (viewed from above), after which it got its name. It gained wide popularity in the early 20th century as it was the hat of the Serbian army in the First World War. It is still worn everyday by some villagers today, and it was a common item of headgear among Bosnian Serb military commanders during the Bosnian War in the 1990s.

Customs

1990s The Serbs are a highly family-oriented society. A peek into a Serbian dictionary and the richness of their terminology related to kinship speaks volumes. Of all Slavs and Orthodox Christians, only Serbs have the custom of slava. The custom could also be found among some Russians and Albanians of Serbian origin although it has often been lost in the last century. Slava is celebration of a saint; unlike most customs that are common for the whole people, each family separately celebrates its own saint (of course, there is a lot of overlap) who is considered its protector. A slava is inherited from father to son and each household may only have one celebration which means that the occasion brings all of the family together. Though a lot of old customs are now no longer practised, many of the customs that surround Serbian wedding still are. The traditional Serbian dance is a circle dance called kolo. It is a collective dance, where a group of people (usually several dozen, at the very least three) hold each other by the hands or around the waist dancing, forming a circle (hence the name), semicircle or spiral. The same dance, with the same name, is also traditional among the Croats. Similar circle dances also exist in other cultures of the region. Serbs have their own customs regarding Christmas. The Serbian Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar, so Christmas currently falls on January 7 of the Gregorian calendar. Early in the morning of Christmas Eve, the head of the family would go to a forest in order to cut badnjak, a young oak, the oaktree would then be brought into the church to be blessed by the priest. Then the oaktree would be stripped of its branches with combined with wheat and other grain products would be burned in the fireplace. The burning of the badnjak is a ritual which is most certainly of pagan origin and it is considered a sacrifice to God (or the old pagan gods) so that the coming year may bring plenty of food, happiness, love, luck and riches. Nowadays, with most Serbs living in towns, most simply go to their church service to be given a small parcel of oak, wheat and other branches tied together to be taken home and set afire. The house floor and church is covered with hay, reminding worshippers of the stable in which Jesus was born. Christmas Day itself is celebrated with a feast, necessarily featuring roasted piglet as the main meal. Another Christmas meal is a deliciously sweet cake made of wheat, called koljivo whose consumption is more for ritual than nourishment. One crosses oneself first, then takes a spoonful of the cake and savours it. But the most important Christmas meal is česnica, a special kind of bread. The bread contains a coin; during the lunch, the family breaks up the bread and the one who finds the coin is said to be assured of an especially happy year. Christmas is not associated with presents like in the West, although it is the day of St Nicolas, the protector saint of children, to whom presents are given. However, most Serbian families give presents on New Year's Day. Santa Claus (Deda Mraz) and the Christmas tree (but rather associated with New Year's Day) are also used in Serbia as result of globalization. Serbs also celebrate the Orthodox New Year (currently on January 14th of the Gregorian Calendar). Religious Serbs also celebrate other religious holidays and even non-religious people often celebrate Easter (on the Orthodox date). For Serbian meals, see Serbian cuisine.

Name

The etymology of the word "Serb" (root: Srb) is not known. Numerous theories exist, but none can be said to be certain or even probable: #Some believe that the name is of Sarmatian/Iranian origin. From which particular word it derives is unclear. However, one theory suggests it derives from the word "Sarv" which means "cypress" tree. #Some believe that the name comes from the word sebar, meaning "peasant." However, as peasants did not exist in pre-Medieval times while the name did, this seems unlikely. #Others say that the name comes from saborac, meaning "co-fighter." This could make sense but the words are too dissimilar. It is possible that saborac comes from sebar (that sebar sometimes meant "co-fighter"), which would make this theory more interesting, but there is not much basis for this claim either. #Some [http://www.rastko.org.yu/rastko-lu/jezik/hsuster-srbin.html] believe that the name comes from srkati, meaning "to suck in," referring to people so closely united as if they share mother's milk. #Also, others argue that all Slavs originally called themselves Serbs, and that Serbs (and Sorbs) are simply the last Slavs who retained the name. If this is true, it still fails to explain the origin of the Slavic name (most of the above may apply). #One more theory is that the name comes from Latin. Latin authors, who are the first to mention the name, call them "Servi" or "Servoi," which means "slaves" or "serfs." This name probably dates from the time when the Romans conquered Thrace and Illyria. However, one thing is certain: the name is very old. It is clearly a self-identification and not a given name as its root cannot be found in western European languages. It is interesting that the etymology of the name of the Croats (root: Hrv) is also unknown. Some suggest that the names actually originate from the same root: indeed, the roots are distinctly similar (Srb/Hrv). However, it is not known whether this is merely coincidental or indicative of a common origin. Regardless of the origin, the age and rarity of the name allows for certain historical conclusions based partly on it (for example, see Gordoservon below).

History

:See also: Origin of Serbs, History of Serbia The tribal designation Serboi first appears in the 1st century Geography of Ptolemy (book 5, 9.21) to designate a tribe dwelling in Sarmatia, probably on the Lower Volga River. The Slavs came to the Balkans from a broad region in central and eastern Europe, which extended from the rivers Elbe in the west to the Dnieper in the east and from a point which touched the Carpathian mountains in the south and the river Niemen in the north. Different tribes settled in different parts of the Balkan peninsula, subsequently developing their distinct identities. Niemen] Their settlement in the Balkans appears to have taken place between 610 and 640. The first certain data on the state of the Serboi, Serbia, dates to the 9th century. The Serbs were Christianized in several waves between the 7th and 9th century with the last wave taking place between 867 and 874. During and after that period, Serbs struggled to gain independence from the Byzantine. The first Serb states were Rascia or Raska and Zeta. Their rulers had a varying degree of autonomy, until virtual independence was achieved under Saint Sava, who became the first head of the Serb Orthodox Church and his brother Stefan Prvovencani, who became the first Serb king. Serbia did not exist as a state of that name but was, rather, the region inhabited by the Serbs; its kings and tsars were called the "King of the Serbs" or "Tsar of the Serbs", not "King of Serbia" or "Tsar of Serbia". The medieval Serbian state is nonetheless often (if anachronistically) referred to as "Serbia". Serbia reached its golden age under the House of Nemanjic, with the Serbian state reaching its apogee of power in the reign of Tsar Stefan Uros Dusan. Serbia's power subsequently dwindled amid interminable conflict between the nobility, rendering the country unable to resist the steady incursion of the Ottoman Empire into south-eastern Europe. The Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is commonly regarded in Serbian national mythology as the key event in the country's defeat by the Turks, although in fact Ottoman rule was not fully imposed until some time later. After Serbia fell, the kings of Bosnia used the title of "King of the Serbs" until Bosnia was also overrun. As Christians, the Serbs were regarded as a "protected people" under Ottoman law but in practice were treated as second-class citizens and often harshly treated. They were subjected to considerable pressure to convert to Islam; some did, while others migrated to the north and west, to seek refuge in Austria-Hungary. At the beginning of the 19th century, the First Serbian Uprising succeeded in liberating at least some Serbs, for a limited time. The Second Serbian Uprising was much more successful, resulting in Ottoman recognition of Serbia as autonomous principality within the Empire. Serbia acquired international recognition as an independent kingdom on Congress of Berlin in 1878. However, many Serbs remained under foreign rule – that of the Ottomans in the south and of the Austrians in the north and west. The southern Serbs were liberated in the First Balkan War of 1912, while the question of Austrian Serbs' independence was the spark that lit the World War I two years later. During the war, the Serbian army fought fiercely, eventually retreated through Albania to regroup in Greece and launched a counter-offensive through Macedonia. Though they were eventually victorious, the war devastated Serbia and killed a huge proportion of its population – by some estimates, over the half of the male Serbian population died in the conflict, influencing the region's demographics to this day. After the war, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later called Yugoslavia) was created. Almost all Serbs now finally lived in one state. The new state had its capital in Belgrade and was ruled by a Serbian king; it was, however, unstable and prone to ethnic tensions. During Second World War, the Axis Powers occupied Yugoslavia, dismembering the country. Serbia was occupied by the Germans, while in Bosnia and Croatia Serbs were put under the rule of the Italians and the fascist Ustase regime in the Independent State of Croatia. Under Ustase rule in particular, Serbs and other non-Croats were subjected to systematic genocide in which hundreds of thousands were killed. After the war, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed. As with the pre-war Yugoslavia, the country's capital was at Belgrade. Serbia was the largest republic, however, the Communist regime of Josip Broz Tito diluted its power by establishing two autonomous provinces in Serbia, Kosovo and Vojvodina. Communist Yugoslavia collapsed in the early 1990s, with four of its six republics becoming independent states. This led to several bloody civil wars as the large Serbian communities in Croatia and Bosnia attempted to remain within Yugoslavia, which now consisted of only Serbia and Montenegro. Another war broke out in Kosovo (see Kosovo War) after years of tensions between Serbs and Albanians. About 200,000 Serbs left Croatia during the "Operation Storm" in 1995, and another 200,000 left Kosovo after the Kosovo War, and settled mostly in Central Serbia and Vojvodina as refugees. Image:Srbi_u_Jugoslaviji.jpg|The territorial placement of Serbs in Yugoslavia according to the 1981 census data Image:Serbia ethnic02.jpg|Serbs in Serbia as per 2002 census data for Central Serbia and Vojvodina, and 1991 census data for Kosovo Image:Montenegro ethnic.jpg|Serbs in Montenegro as per 2003 census data Image:Bih ethnic18.gif|Serbs in BiH as per 1998 data

Subgroups

The subgroups of Serbs are commonly based on regional affiliation. Some of the major subgroups of Serbs include: Šumadinci, Vojvođani, Bačvani, Banaćani, Sremci, Crnogorci, Bokelji, Hercegovci, Semberci, Krajišnici, etc. Some Serbs, mostly living in Montenegro and Herzegovina are organised in clans. See: list of Serbian tribes.

Cognate peoples

These peoples are the closest relatives of Serbs:
- Montenegrins (Montenegro)
- Yugoslavs (Serbia-Montenegro)
- Muslims (Serbia-Montenegro)
- Bosniaks (Bosnia)
- Croats (Croatia)
- Bunjevci (Vojvodina)
- Šokci (Vojvodina)
- Krašovani (Romania)
- Goranci (Kosovo and Metohia, Serbia-Montenegro)
- Janjevci (Kosovo and Metohia, Serbia-Montenegro)

References

#Statistični urad Republike Slovenije: [http://www.stat.si/popis2002/si/rezultati/rezultati_red.asp?ter=SLO&st=7 7. Prebivalstvo po narodni pripadnosti, Slovenija, popisi 1953, 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991 in 2002] #Државен завод за статистика: [http://www.stat.gov.mk/pdf/kniga_13.pdf Попис на населението, домаќинствата и становите во Република Македонија, 2002: Дефинитивни податоци] (PDF) #Dr. Vladimir Grecic, Marko Lopusina: Svi Srbi sveta: [http://www.suc.org/culture/library/Lopusina1/text/s73.html Albanija] #Agentia Nationala pentru Intreprinderi Mici si Mijlocii: [http://mimmc.ro/info_util/formulare_1294/ Recensamant Romania 2002] #Hungarian Central Statistical Office: [http://www.nepszamlalas.hu/eng/volumes/18/tables/load1_28.html 1.28 Population by mother tongue, nationality and sex, 1900–2001] #Federal Statistical Office Germany: [http://www.destatis.de/basis/e/bevoe/bevoetab10.htm|Foreign population on 31.12.2004 by country of origin] #Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH [http://www2.gtz.de/migration-and-development/konferenz-2/english/serbs.htm Serbs in Germany] #Mathis Winkler, Deutsche Welle: [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1644313,00.html Can Serbia Face the Past?] #Tatsachen über Deutschland - Presse- und Informationsamt der Bundesregierung #Statistik Austria: [ftp://www.statistik.at/pub/neuerscheinungen/vzaustriaweb.pdf Volkszählung 2001 Hauptergebnisse I - Österreich] (PDF) #2002 American Community Survey Summary Tables [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=D&-ds_name=D&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-mt_name=ACS_2002_EST_G2000_PCT026 Ancestry (Total Categories Tallied) for People With One or More Ancestry Categories Reported] #List of Canadians by ethnicity #Dr. Vladimir Grecic, Marko Lopusina: Svi Srbi sveta: [http://www.suc.org/culture/library/Lopusina1/text/s51.html Srbi u Kanadi] #The Community Relations Commission For a multicultural NSW: [http://www.crc.nsw.gov.au/statistics/Sect1/Table1p08Aust.pdf Ancestry by Birthplace of Parent(s) - Australia : 2001 Census] (PDF) #New Zealand's official statistics agency: [http://www.stats.govt.nz/domino/external/web/CensusTables.nsf/htmldocs/Ethnic+Group+-+Up+to+Three+Responses/$file/Table%204.xls Ethnic Group - Up to Three Responses] (XLS) #[http://www.serbiancouncil.org.uk/ The Serbian Council of Great Britain] #Dr. Vladimir Grecic, Marko Lopusina: Svi Srbi sveta: [http://www.suc.org/culture/library/Lopusina1/text/s66.html#s11 Svedska] #Ministère des Affaires étrangères: [http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/pays-zones-geo_833/serbie-et-montenegro_443/presentation-communaute-etatique-serbie-et-montenegro_952/ Présentation de la Communauté étatique de Serbie-et-Monténégro] # Федеральная служба государственной статистики: [http://www.perepis2002.ru/ct/html/TOM_14_24.htm 4.1. Национальный состав населения] # Gonen, Amiram, ed., The Encyclopedia of the Peoples of the World. New York: Holt. 1993. ISBN 0805022562. p. 525, gives the following statistics for Serb population in the former Yugoslavia: : Serbs
- Category:Ethnic groups of Europe Category:Ethnic groups of Serbia Category:Ethnic groups of Vojvodina <