:: wikimiki.org ::

July 6

July 6

July 6 is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 178 days remaining.

Events

- 1253 - Mindaugas is crowned king of Lithuania.
- 1483 - Richard III is crowned king of England.
- 1484 - Portuguese sea captain Diogo Cão finds the mouth of Congo River.
- 1495 - Charles VIII fights in the Battle of Fornovo against the Holy League, ending his attempted conquest of Italy.
- 1560 - The Treaty of Edinburgh is signed by Scotland and England.
- 1573 - Córdoba, Argentina is founded by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera.
- 1609 - Bohemia is granted freedom of religion.
- 1630 - Thirty-Years War: 4,000 Swedish troops under Gustavus Adolphus land in Pomerania, Germany.
- 1777 - American Revolutionary War: At the Battle of Ticonderoga, bombardment by British artillery under General John Burgoyne forces American retreat from Fort Ticonderoga, New York.
- 1785 - The dollar is unanimously chosen as the monetary unit for the United States.
- 1799 - Ranjit Singh's 25,000 men start march towards Lahore.
- 1801 - Battle of Algeciras: The French navy defeats the British Royal Navy.
- 1854 - In Jackson, Michigan, the first convention of the U.S. Republican Party is held.
- 1885 - Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies. The patient is Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog.
- 1887 - David Kalakaua, monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, is forced at gunpoint, at the hands of Americans, to sign the Bayonet Constitution giving Americans more power in Hawaii while stripping Hawaiian citizens of their rights.
- 1892 - Dadabhai Naoroji elected as first Indian Member of Parliament in Britain.
- 1893 - The small town of Pomeroy, Iowa is nearly destroyed by a tornado that kills 71 people and injures 200.
- 1905 - Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the second time.
- 1908 - Robert Peary sets sail for the Arctic on the expedition on which he later reaches the North Pole.
- 1917 - World War I: Arabian troops led by Lawrence of Arabia and Auda ibu Tayi capture Aqaba from the Turks during the Arab Revolt.
- 1919 - The British dirigible R-34 lands in New York, completing the first crossing of the Atlantic by an airship.
- 1923 - Treaty of Union signed by Russia, Transcaucasia, Ukraine and Belarus, establishing the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
- 1928 - The ten world's largest hailstones fall in Potter, Nebraska.
- 1933 - The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played in Chicago's Comiskey Park. The American League defeats the National League, 4 to 2.
- 1939 - Holocaust: The last remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany are closed.
- 1944 - The Hartford Circus Fire, one of America's worst fire disasters, kills approximately 168 people and injures over 700 in Hartford, Connecticut.
- 1957 - Althea Gibson wins the Wimbledon championships, becoming the first black athlete to do so.
- 1957 - John Lennon and Paul McCartney of The Beatles meet for the first time.
- 1964 - A Hard Day's Night, the first Beatles film, premieres.
- 1964 - Malawi declares its independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1966 - Malawi becomes a republic.
- 1967 - Biafran War: Nigerian forces invade Biafra, beginning the war.
- 1974 - The radio program A Prairie Home Companion makes its first live broadcast.
- 1975 - The Comoros declare independence from France.
- 1977 - Pink Floyd's Roger Waters spits on a fan during the In The Flesh tour in Montreal.
- 1988 - The Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires, killing 167 oil workers.
- 1988 - Carlos Salinas wins controversial Mexican presidential election.
- 1989 - At 01:23:45 AM, the time and date by British reckoning was 01:23:45 6/7/89. This was also true 12 hours later excepting 24-hour time.
- 2003 - The Corsicans rejected a referendum for increased autonomy from France by a very thin majority: 50.98 percent against, and 49.02 percent for.
- 2004 - The New York Post erroneously reports that Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry has selected Dick Gephardt as his running mate.
- 2005 - International Olympic Committee announces that London wins bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
- 2005 - Time Magazine reporter Matt Cooper agrees to testify to a grand jury that Karl Rove revealed to him Valerie Plame's secret CIA identity.
- 2005 - Bob Geldof and Bono meet with the G8 in Gleneagles to discuss increasing aid to Africa. Afterwards, both make appearances at the Edinburgh 50,000 concert, a last concert in the Live 8 series.

Births

- 1686 - Antoine de Jussieu, French naturalist (d. 1758)
- 1766 - Alexander Wilson, Scottish-born poet, ornithologist, naturalist, and painter (d. 1813)
- 1785 - William Jackson Hooker, English botanist (d. 1865)
- 1796 - Tsar Nicholas I of Russia (d. 1855)
- 1817 - Albert von Kölliker, Swiss anatomist (d. 1905)
- 1818 - Adolf Anderssen, German chess player (d. 1879)
- 1838 - Vatroslav Jagic, Croatian scholar (d. 1923)
- 1859 - Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940)
- 1884 - Harold Vanderbilt, American businessman (b. 1884)
- 1898 - Hanns Eisler, German composer (d. 1962)
- 1903 - Hugo Theorell, Swedish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1982)
- 1907 - Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter (d. 1954)
- 1918 - Sebastian Cabot, English actor (d. 1977)
- 1919 - Ernst Haefliger, Swiss tenor
- 1921 - Nancy Reagan, actress and First Lady of the United States
- 1923 - Wojciech Jaruzelski, President of Poland
- 1925 - Merv Griffin, American game show developer and television show host
- 1925 - Bill Haley, American singer (Bill Haley and the Comets) (d. 1981)
- 1927 - Hein Donner, Dutch chess player
- 1927 - Janet Leigh, American actress (d. 2004)
- 1927 - Pat Paulsen, American comedian and Presidential candidate (d. 1997)
- 1931 - Della Reese, American singer and actress
- 1935 - Tenzin Gyatso, fourteenth Dalai Lama, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- 1936 - Dave Allen, Irish comedian (d. 2005)
- 1937 - Vladimir Ashkenazy, Russian pianist and conductor
- 1937 - Ned Beatty, American actor
- 1946 - George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States
- 1946 - Sylvester Stallone, American actor
- 1951 - Geoffrey Rush, Australian actor
- 1953 - Nanci Griffith, American singer and songwriter
- 1958 - Jennifer Saunders, British actress and comedian
- 1959 - Richard Dacoury, French basketball player
- 1967 - Heather Nova, West Indian-born guitarist and singer
- 1969 - Fernando Redondo, Argentine footballer
- 1970 - Inspectah Deck, American rapper
- 1975 - 50 Cent, American rapper
- 1978 - Tia Mowry and Tamera Mowry, Twin German actresses
- 1983 - Gregory Smith, Canadian actor

Deaths

- 1189 - King Henry II of England (b. 1133)
- 1218 - Eudes III, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1166)
- 1249 - King Alexander II of Scotland (b. 1198)
- 1415 - Jan Hus, Bohemian reformer (burned at the stake) (b. 1369)
- 1476 - Regiomantus, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1436)
- 1480 - Antonio Squarcialupi, Italian composer (b. 1416)
- 1533 - Ludovico Ariosto, Italian poet (b. 1474)
- 1535 - Sir Thomas More, English writer and philosopher (executed) (b. 1478)
- 1553 - King Edward VI of England (b. 1537)
- 1583 - Edmund Grindal, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1585 - Thomas Aufield, English Catholic martyr (b. 1552)
- 1684 - Peter Gunning, English royalist churchman (b. 1614)
- 1758 - George Howe, 3rd Viscount Howe, British general (killed in battle)
- 1711 - James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, Scottish politician (b. 1662)
- 1762 - Tsar Peter III of Russia (murdered) (b. 1728)
- 1768 - Conrad Beissel, German-born religious leader
- 1835 - John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1755)
- 1854 - Georg Ohm, German physicist
- 1893 - Guy de Maupassant, French author (b. 1850)
- 1902 - St. Maria Goretti, French saint (b. 1890)
- 1916 - Odilon Redon, French painter (b. 1840)
- 1932 - Kenneth Grahame, English children's author (b. 1859)
- 1960 - Aneurin Bevan, British politician (b. 1897)
- 1961 - Woodall Rodgers, mayor of Dallas, Texas (b. 1890)
- 1962 - William Faulkner, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
- 1962 - Joseph August, Archduke of Austria, Austrian field marshal (b. 1872)
- 1966 - Sad Sam Jones, baseball player (b. 1892)
- 1971 - Louis Armstrong, American musician (b. 1901)
- 1973 - Otto Klemperer, German conductor (b. 1885)
- 1982 - Bob Johnson, baseball player (b. 1905)
- 1986 - Jagjivan Ram, Indian politician (b. 1908)
- 1989 - János Kádár, Hungarian politician (b. 1912)
- 1998 - Roy Rogers, American cowboy actor and singer (b. 1911)
- 1999 - Joaquin Rodrigo, Spanish composer (b. 1901)
- 2002 - Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian businessman (b. 1932)
- 2002 - John Frankenheimer, American film director (b. 1930)
- 2003 - Buddy Ebsen, American actor (b. 1908)
- 2004 - Thomas Klestil, President of Austria (b. 1932)
- 2005 - L. Patrick Gray III, American director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (b. 1916)
- 2005 - Claude Simon, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)

Holidays and observances

- Comoros - Independence Day (1975)
- Czech Republic - Jan Hus Day (1415)
- Feast day of St Maria Goretti
- Lithuania - Day of Statehood
- Malawi - Independence Day (1964)
- Malawi - Republic Day (1966)
- Roman festivals Ludi Apollinares, games in honour of Apollo (since 208 BC) begin today

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/6 BBC: On This Day] ---- July 5 - July 7 - June 6 - August 6 -- listing of all days ko:7월 6일 ms:6 Julai ja:7月6日 simple:July 6 th:6 กรกฎาคม

July 6

July 6 is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 178 days remaining.

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

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

Mindaugas

Mindaugas (approximate English transcription [ˈmın.dəʊ.gʌs], simplified Lithuanian transcription [mindaŭgas]; also known as Ruthenian: Mindowh, , ) (c.1203 - 12 September 1263) ruled Lithuania as grand duke ("didysis kunigaikštis", "вялікі князь") from c.1236 (a Christian from 1251) and as king ("karalius", "кароль") from 1253. He united local tribal "duchies", as well as Black Ruthenia. In 1253 July 06 he was crowned as a king. Where he was crowned is still unclear. There are few probably locations (by the probability) Vilnius, Trakai (Old Trakai), or Navahradak. It is known, that for this occasion Catholic Cathedral was built, and that Mindaugas and his wife Morta were crowned by order of pope Innocentius IV. He and his wife Morta were baptized around 1252 by the bishop of Kulm (now Chełmno) in the presence of the Master of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword. A member of the Order named Christian was consecrated as first bishop of Lithuania. This raised a huge opposition and the Baltic peoples continued to resist conversion to Christianity, and after defeat by pagan forces in 1260, Mindaugas renounced Christianity. He was killed by his nephew Treniota and Duke Daumantas of Nalšiai. Under the usurper Treniota, of strong paganist beliefs, the country relapsed into paganism until the conversion (1386) of grand duke Jogaila. Only with Gediminas, grand duke from 1316, did Lithuania's revival begin. While most of Lithuanian grand dukes from Jogaila onward reigned also as kings of Poland, their titles remained separate, and Mindaugas was the only King of Lithuania, recognized as such by Western European rulers.

Father

:Ryngold (Movkold; ? - 1219), Grand Prince of Lithuania 1214 - 1219 1219]

Wife

:Morta, baptized ca 1252 by the bishop of Kulm

Brother

:Dowsprunk (? - 1213 near Lielvarde), Grand Prince of Lithuania ? - 1213

Son

:Vaišvilkas (Woyszwiłk, Vojszalak, Vojšalk, Vaišelga, Vaishyalga, Vaišalgas, Rymont Lawrasz, Rimond Laurent; + killed 9 December 1268 Vladimir), Prince of Black Ruthenia 1239 - 1254, Grand Prince of Lithuania 1254, 1258 – 1263

Daughter

:NN (1201 - 1264), m. 1255 King Švarn of Galicia

External links

- [http://www.istorija.net/ Pages and Forums on the Lithuanian History] Category:Lithuanian nobility Category:Lithuanian rulers Category:Belarusian nobility Category:Belarusian rulers Category:1263 deaths Category:History of Lithuania Category:History of Poland Category:History of Belarus ja:ミンダウカス

Lithuania

The Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuva; full - Lietuvos Respublika) is a republic in northeastern Europe. One of the three Baltic States along the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland to the south, and the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia to the southwest.

History

Main article: History of Lithuania First mentioned in a medieval German manuscript, the Quedlinburg Chronicle, on February 14 1009, Lithuania became a significant state in the Middle Ages. The official crowning of Mindaugas as King of Lithuania in Voruta on July 6 1253 marked Lithuania's birth, as warring dukes united to support his reign. Later, during Gediminas' conquests, the nation grew into the independent, multi-ethnic Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which joined the lands of modern Belarus and Ukraine. By the 15th century, the Grand Duchy stretched across Eastern Europe from the Baltic to the Black Sea. When Grand Duke Jogaila was crowned King of Poland on February 2, 1386, Lithuania and Poland became unified under one monarch. In 1569, Poland and Lithuania formally merged into a single state called the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This union remained in place until the adoption of the May Constitution of 1791, which abolished all subdivisions of the states and merged them into the Kingdom of Poland. In 1795, this new state was soon dissolved by the third Partition of Poland, which ceded its lands to Russia, Prussia and Austria. On February 16, 1918, Lithuania re-established its independence in severely limited territories that had been designated Lithuanian, with non-Lithuanian areas of the Grand Duchy that had fallen to the Soviet Union remaining under Soviet control. From the outset, territorial disputes with Poland (over the Vilnius region and the Suvalkai region) and Germany (over the Klaipėda region, German: Memelland) plagued the new nation. During the interwar period, the constitutional capital of Lithuania was Vilnius, although the city itself was then ocupied by Polish (see History of Vilnius for more details). The Lithuanian government at the time was seated in Kaunas, which officially held the status of temporary capital. In 1940, at the height of World War II, the Soviet Union occuppied and annexed Lithuania in accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. It later came under German occupation, during which time 90% of Lithuanian Jews were killed, one of the worst death rates of the Holocaust. Ultimately Lithuania fell again to the Soviet Union in 1945. Fifty years of communist rule ended with the advent of glasnost, and Lithuania, led by Sąjūdis, an anti-communist and anti-Soviet independence movement, proclaimed its renewed independence on March 11, 1990. Lithuania was the first Soviet republic to do so, though Soviet forces unsuccessfully tried until August 1991 to suppress this secession, including an incident at Vilnius' TV Tower in January 1991 that resulted in the death of several Lithuanian civilians. The last Russian troops left Lithuania on August 31, 1993 — even earlier than those in East Germany. On February 4, 1991, Iceland became the first country to recognize Lithuanian independence, and Sweden the first to open an embassy in the country. The United States of America never recognized the Soviet claim to Lithuania or the other two Baltic republics. Lithuania joined the United Nations on September 17, 1991. On May 31, 2001, Lithuania became the 141st member of the World Trade Organization. Since 1988, Lithuania has sought closer ties with the West, and so on January 4, 1994, it became the first of the Baltic States to apply for NATO membership. On November 21, 2002, NATO invited Lithuania to start membership negotiations, and on March 29, 2004, it became a full and equal NATO member. On February 1, 1998, it became an Associate Member of the EU, and on April 16, 2003, it signed the EU Accession Treaty. 91% of Lithuanians backed EU membership in a referendum held on May 11, 2003 and on May 1, 2004, Lithuania joined the European Union.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Lithuania The Lithuanian head of state is the president, elected directly for a five-year term, who also functions as the commander-in-chief and oversees foreign and security policy. The president, on the approval of the parliament, also appoints the prime minister and on the latter's nomination, appoints the rest of the cabinet, as well as a number of other top civil servants and the judges for all courts, including the Constitutional Court (Konstitucinis Teismas). The unicameral Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has 141 members that are elected to four-year terms. About half of the members of this legislative body are elected in single constituencies (71), and the other half (70) are elected in a nationwide vote by proportional representation. A party must receive at least 5% of the national vote to be represented in the Seimas.

Administrative division

Main article: Administrative division of Lithuania Administrative division of Lithuania Lithuania consists of 10 counties (Lithuanian: apskritys, singular - apskritis), each named after their principal city. The counties are subdivided into 60 municipalities (some municipalities are historically called "district municipalities", and thus shortened to "district"; others are called "city municipalities", sometimes shortened to "city", or leaving just the name of city; and some are just simply called "municipalities") (see: List of municipalities of Lithuania). The municipality is the most important unit. Each municipality has its own elected government. In the past, the election of municipality councils occurred once every three years, but now take place every four years. The council elects the mayor of the municipality and other required personnel (larger municipalities have larger councils and more officials). The municipality councils also appoint elders to the administrative division (small municipalities do not have elderships, though). Taken together, the municipalities consist of over 500 elderships. This administrative division was created in 1994 and modified in 2000. There is currently a proposal that would require mayors and elders to be elected in direct elections by the public. The whole of Lithuania is partitioned into counties, which are ruled by officials ("Rulers of Apskritis") who are sent by the central government. These officials ensure that the municipalities work according to the laws of Lithuania and the constitution. They do not, however, have substantial powers vested in them, and there has been a proposal to reduce the number of counties because of the small number of municipalities falling under each ruler's jurisdiction. One proposal is to create a new administrative unit comprised of four lands, the boundaries of which would be determined by the ethnographic regions of Lithuania. Another proposed solution is to expand the counties so that there would be five in all, each based in one of the five largest cities. Also see: Counties of Lithuania, List of municipalities of Lithuania, Elderships

Geography

Main article: Geography of Lithuania The largest and most populous of the Baltic states, Lithuania has around 99 km of sandy coastline, of which only about 38 km faces the open Baltic Sea. Lithuania's major warm-water port of Klaipėda lies at the narrow mouth of Kuršių marios (Curonian Lagoon), a shallow lagoon extending south to Kaliningrad. The main river, the Nemunas, and some of its tributaries carry international shipping vessels. Lithuanian landscape is glacially flat, except for morainic hills in the western uplands and eastern highlands that are no higher than 300 m, with the highest point being found at Juozapinės at 292 m. The terrain features numerous lakes, Lake Vištytis) for example, swamps, and a mixed forest zone covers 30% of the country. The climate lies between maritime and continental, with wet, moderate winters and summers. According to some geographers, Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, lies a few kilometres south of the geographical centre of Europe. Lithuania consists of the following historical and cultural regions:
- Aukštaitija - literally, the "Highlands"
- Samogitia - also known as Žemaitija, or literally, the "Lowlands"
- Dzūkija (Dzūkija or Dainava).
- Sudovia (Sūduva or Suvalkija). Also:
- Mažoji Lietuva - Lithuania Minor, also known as "Prussian Lithuania" (Prūsų Lietuva). Now most of it is under control by Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast).

Economy

Main article: Economy of Lithuania In 2003, prior to joining the European Union, Lithuania had the highest economic growth rate amongst all candidate and member countries, reaching 8.8% in the third quarter. In 2004, a 6.6% growth in GDP reflected impressive economic development. Prior to 1998, Lithuania was the Baltic state that conducted the most trade with Russia; however, the 1998 Russian financial crisis forced the country to orient toward the West. Lithuania has since gained membership of the World Trade Organization, and joined the European Union on May 1, 2004. According to officially published figures, accession to the EU reduced previously high unemployment to 10.6% in 2004, although some argue that this has been prompted by the high rate of emigration from Lithuania that has occurred since it joined the EU. Lithuania has nearly completed the privatization of its large, state-owned utilities. The Litas, the national currency, has been pegged to the Euro since February 2, 2002 at the rate of EUR 1.00 = LTL 3.4528, and Lithuania is expected to switch to the Euro on 1 January 2007, thus becoming one of the first of the new EU members to do so, together with Estonia and Slovenia. Although Lithuania's economy is undoubtedly growing, many people still live in abject poverty and the situation does not appear to be improving. An urban elite is now highly visible, whilst little seems to have changed for the country's poor. According to a report published by the US Department of State in October 2005, the minimum wage increased in 2005 to $197.50 per month (the first rise since June 1998), well below the poverty threshold. The average wage stands at $458 per month [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5379.htm 1]. Like other countries in the region (Estonia, Latvia and Russia) Lithuania has also adopted a flat rate of tax rather than a progressive scheme. However, at 33% of income, the tax rate is considerably higher than that of its neighbours and some suggest that this, combined with the very low wages, may be a factor influencing the current trend of mass emigration to Western Europe, something that has been made legally possible as a result of accession to the European Union in 2004 [http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1549075,00.html]. The Ministry of Labour estimated in 2004 that as many as 360,000 workers may have left the country by the end of that year, a prediction that is now thought to have been broadly accurate. The impact is already evident: in September 2004, the Lithuanian Trucking Association reported a shortage of 3,000-4,000 truck drivers. Large retail stores have also reported some difficulty in filling positions [http://www.state.gov/e/eb/ifd/2005/42068.htm].

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Lithuania 83.5% of the Lithuanian population are ethnic Lithuanians who speak the Lithuanian language (one of two surviving members of the Baltic language group), which is the official language of the state. Several sizable minorities exist, such as Poles (7%), Russians (5%), and Belarusians (1.5%). Poles are the largest minority, mostly concentrated in southeast Lithuania (the Western Vilnius region). Russians are the second largest minority, concentrated mostly in the cities and comprising a majority in Visaginas; they also constitute a large minority in Vilnius and Klaipėda. Because of the Soviet occupation, most older people and some members of the younger population still understand Russian. Most schools teach English (sometimes German) as a first foreign language, but students may also study Russian, German, or, in some schools, French. However, there are still some schools that teach Russian as a primary language. The predominant religion is Roman Catholicism, but Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Judaism, Islam and Karaism (an ancient offshoot of Judaism represented by a long-standing community in Trakai) also exist as minority religions.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Lithuania
- List of famous Lithuanians
- Lithuanian mythology
- Music of Lithuania

Lithuanians abroad

- Lithuanians in Brazil
- Lithuanians in Cleveland
- Lithuanians in France
- Little Lithuania, Chicago
- :Category:Lithuanian-Americans

Miscellaneous topics

- Communications in Lithuania
- Foreign relations of Lithuania
- Holidays in Lithuania
- Lietuvos Skautija
- List of cities in Lithuania
- List of extinct and endangered animals of Lithuania
- List of Lithuanian rulers
- Military of Lithuania
- Sports in Lithuania
- Tourism in the Baltics
- Transportation in Lithuania

External links

- [http://www.president.lt/en Prezidentas] - Official presidential site
- [http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter/w3_eng_h.home Seimas] - Official parliamentary site
- [http://www.lrv.lt/main_en.php Vyriausybe] - Official governmental site
- [http://www.lietuva.lt/index.php?Lang=5&ItemId=27616 Lithuanian Central Internet Gates] - Main Lithuanian portal
- [http://www.on.lt Lithuania Online] - Wide collection of Lithuanian links
- [http://www.travel.lt] - Lithuanian State Department of Tourism

Maps & GIS

- [http://www.maps.lt Maps of Lithuania on Maps.lt]
- [http://www.mapquest.com/maps/main.adp?country=LT Maps of Lithuania on Mapquest] Category:Republics Category:European Union member states als:Litauen roa-rup:Litva ms:Lithuania zh-min-nan:Lietuva ja:リトアニア ko:리투아니아 ms:Lithuania simple:Lithuania th:ประเทศลิทัวเนีย fiu-vro:Leedu

Richard III of England

:For the play Richard III by William Shakespeare, see Richard III (play) Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was the King of England from 1483 until his death and the last king from the House of York. After the death of his brother King Edward IV, Richard briefly governed as a regent for Edward's son King Edward V, but he imprisoned Edward and his brother Richard in the Tower and acquired the throne for himself (crowned on 6 July 1483). A rebellion rose against Richard and he fell in the Battle of Bosworth Field as the last English king to die in battle, when he faced Henry Tudor, 2nd Earl of Richmond (later King Henry VII). William Shakespeare's play Richard III has made his name particularly famous.

Childhood

Richard was born at Fotheringay Castle, the fourth son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York (who had been a strong claimant to the throne of King Henry VI) and Cecily Neville. The withered arm, limp, and crooked back of legend are most likely fabrications, asserted primarily by Thomas More in his questionable history, which made a deep impression upon Shakespeare. Richard spent much of his childhood at Middleham Castle in Wensleydale, under the tutalege of his uncle Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. He was involved in ongoing battles between different alliances of the House of Lancaster and the House of York factions during the last half of the 15th Century. At the time of his father's death at the Battle of Wakefield, Richard was still a boy, and at that time he was taken into the care of Warwick, known to history as "The Kingmaker" because of his strong influence on the course of the Wars of the Roses. Warwick was instrumental in deposing Henry VI and replacing him with Richard's eldest brother, Edward. While Richard was at Warwick's estate, he developed a close friendship with Francis Lovell, a friendship that would remain strong for the rest of his life. Another child in the household was Warwick's daughter Anne Neville, whom Richard would later marry.

Marriage

Following the decisive Yorkist victory over the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury, Richard married the widowed Anne Neville, younger daughter of the late Earl of Warwick. Anne's first husband had been Edward of Westminster, son of Henry VI. Following his death at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, she disappears from the records for a while, her whereabouts unknown. It is popularly believed that she had fallen under the dubious control of George of Clarence, who had an interest in preventing her from marrying again, because it gave him full control over the joint inheritance of Anne and her elder sister Isabel, George's wife. In a scene straight out of "Cinderella", Richard is said to have found Anne working as a scullery maid in a London chophouse and "rescued" her; but the truth is not known. Their marriage took place on 12 July 1472. Richard and Anne had one son, Edward Plantagenet (also known as Edward of Middleham, 1473 – 9 April 1484), who died not long after being created Prince of Wales. (Richard had two illegitimate children as well, John of Gloucester and a daughter named Kathryn.) Anne also died before her husband.

Reign of Edward IV

During the reign of his brother, King Edward IV, Richard demonstrated his loyalty, as well as his prodigious skill as a military commander, and was rewarded with large estates in Northern England, given the title Duke of Gloucester and the position of Governor of the North, becoming the richest and most powerful noble in England and a loyal aide to Edward IV. (By contrast the other surviving brother, George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, was executed by Edward for treason.) Richard continued to control the north of England until Edward's death. In 1482 Richard recaptured Berwick-upon-Tweed from the Scots, and was noted as being fair and just, endowing universities and making grants to the church.

Accession to the Throne

On the death of King Edward IV, in April 1483, the late King's sons (Richard's young nephews), King Edward V, aged 12, and Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York, aged 9, were next in the order of succession. Appointed Lord Protector of the Realm in his brother's will, Richard was warned by Lord Hastings, that the Woodvilles were intending to isolate Richard from the position and to consolidate their power at Richard's expense. When the boy King's retinue was on its way from Wales to London, for his coronation, Richard and Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham joined them at Northampton. He had the king's guardian, Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, (brother of Elizabeth Woodville, Edward's Queen Consort) and other advisors arrested and taken to Pontefract Castle, allegedly for planning to assassinate Edward V. Richard then took Edward to stay at the Tower of London (then a royal palace), a move widely supported since much of the country distrusted the former queen's family. Richard called himself Lord Protector and was also made Chief Councillor (head of government). John Morton, Bishop of Ely and later Archbishop of Canterbury, is considered by some to be an important source of the Tudor propaganda against Richard III. According to Sir Thomas More's History, which may be based in part on Morton's accounts, Lord Hastings (a regular visitor to the young Edward V in the Tower of London) was arrested for alleged treason on 13 June 1483 at a meeting of the Royal Council, at the Tower. A few minutes later, he was beheaded on Tower Green, a clear violation of his rights (i.e., execution without due process) as a Peer guaranteed under Magna Carta. It has been argued that Hastings, whose execution was the first recorded at the Tower of London, was indeed arrested on 13 June, but later formally charged with treason, tried, convicted and sentenced, and legally executed on 18 June; no record of such proceedings survives. Edward's younger brother, Richard, was removed to the Tower on 16 June, following Lord Hastings' arrest and (presumed) execution. It is thought that Hastings had allied himself with the Queen Dowager because of the rise in influence of Buckingham and what he saw as Richard's usurpation of the throne. Morton claimed to have been in the council room when Hastings was arrested, and may have been one of several men who were detained for participating in the conspiracy with Hastings. Three other members of the alleged conspiracy — the queen's brother Lord Rivers, her second son Richard Grey, and another chamberlain Sir Thomas Vaughan — were also convicted and executed elsewhere. Jane (or Elizabeth) Shore, who had been a mistress of King Edward IV, and then of his step-son Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset (who avoided prosecution in the conspiracy by going into sanctuary at Westminster with his mother), and was now Hastings's mistress, was convicted of only lesser offences and was made to do public penance and briefly imprisoned. John Morton is also thought to be the source of other accusations against Richard, notably
- the murder of the Princes in the Tower
- the murder of Henry VI himself
- the "private execution" of his brother George, Duke of Clarence
- the murder of his wife's first husband, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales
- the murder of William, Lord Hastings
- of forcing his wife, Anne Neville, to marry him against her will
- of planning an incestuous marriage to his niece Elizabeth of York (and perhaps killing his wife so he could)
- of accusing his own mother of adultery and his late brother the king of being illegitimate
- of accusing Jane Shore and Elizabeth Woodville of witchcraft in withering his arm
- of being illegitimate himself Each of these stories first appears in writing either in Sir Thomas More's The History of King Richard III, believed by some to be based on Morton's account, or on the writings of someone else who had heard the stories. (Historians are divided on the issue of Morton's importance as a source, some pointing out that More's own father was an Edwardian loyalist and well-connected in the governmentof the City of London.) The question of whether these stories were true was not of great interest to either Morton or More, history then still being regarded as a branch of literature. Not only that, but Morton, having been arrested by Richard III, had fled to exile in Flanders. He only returned when Henry VII was on the throne and was quickly promoted. It was customary for histories to also serve as propaganda on both sides, to support and strengthen one's patron's cause. On June 22, 1483, outside St Paul's Cathedral, a statement was read out on behalf of Richard declaring for the first time that he was taking the throne for himself. When the members of Parliament met on June 25, it apparently heard evidence from a priest that he had conducted a marriage or betrothal between Edward IV and one Lady Eleanor Talbot (or Butler) before his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville. Since even a betrothal was a legally binding "pre-contract" in the customs of the time, Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville had been bigamous, therefore all their children were illegitimate. Some of the proceedings of that Parliamentary session survive in a document known as Titulus Regius, which Parliament issued some months later explaining its actions and of which a single copy escaped the destruction of all copies of the Titulus Regius later ordered by Henry VII. The identity of the priest in question - thought to have been Edward IV's sometime Chancellor, Robert Stillington, Bishop of Bath and Wells - is known from only one source, the French political commentator, Philippe de Commines. Despite rumours that Richard's claims were true, evidence was lacking, and until recently it has generally been accepted that Richard's chief motive for taking the crown was that he felt that his own power and wealth would be threatened under Edward V, who was presumably sympathetic to his Woodville relatives. However, a recently-published theory has reopened the question of the additional claim that it was Edward IV who was illegitimate -see was Edward illegitimate? for details.

Coronation

Richard's three elder brothers were all dead. His elder brother

July 6

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

July 6

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

Leap year

Gregorian calendar

Which day is the leap day?

Julian calendar

Revised Julian Calendar

Chinese calendar

Hebrew calendar

Hindu Calendar

Iranian calendar

Long term leap year rules

Marriage proposal

Saint Patrick and the leap year

Birthdays

Mindaugas

Father

Wife

Brother

Son

Daughter

See also

External links

Lithuania

History

Politics

Administrative division

Geography

Economy

Demographics

Culture

Lithuanians abroad

Miscellaneous topics

External links

Maps & GIS

Richard III of England

Childhood

Marriage

Reign of Edward IV

Accession to the Throne

Coronation