November 4

November 4 is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 57 days remaining.

Events

- 1576 - Eighty Years' War: In Belgium, Spain captures Antwerp (after three days the city was nearly destroyed).
- 1677 - The future Mary II of England marries William, Prince of Orange. They would later be known as William and Mary.
- 1842 - Abraham Lincoln, future US President, marries Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois.
- 1852 - Count Camillo Benso di Cavour became the prime minister of Piedmont-Sardinia, which soon expanded to become Italy.
- 1861 - The University of Washington opens in Seattle, Washington as the Territorial University
- 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Johnsonville - Confederate troops bombard a Union supply base and destroy millions of dollars in material.
- 1869 - The first issue of the scientific journal Nature is published.
- 1884 - U.S. presidential election, 1884: Democrat Grover Cleveland defeats Republican James G. Blaine in a very close contest to win the first of his two non-consecutive terms.
- 1889 - Menelek of Shoa obtains the allegiance of a large majority of the Ethiopian nobility, paving the way for him to be crowned emperor.
- 1890 - City & South London Railway: London's first deep-level tube railway opens between King William Street and Stockwell.
- 1899 - Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams is published.
- 1918 - World War I: Austria-Hungary surrenders to Italy.
- 1918 - The German Revolution begins when 40,000 sailors take over the port in Kiel.
- 1921 - The Sturmabteilung or SA is formally formed by Adolf Hitler
- 1922 - In Egypt, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men find the entrance to King Tutankhamen's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
- 1924 - Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming elected as the first woman governor in the United States.
- 1928 - Arnold Rothstein, New York City's most notorious gambler, is shot dead over a poker game.
- 1939 - World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the United States Customs Service to implement the Neutrality Act of 1939, allowing cash-and-carry purchases of weapons by belligerents.
- 1942 - World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein - Disobeying a direct order by Adolf Hitler, General Field Marshal Erwin Rommel leads his forces on a five-month retreat.
- 1948 - T.S. Eliot wins the Nobel Prize in Literature.
- 1952 - U.S. presidential election, 1952: Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower defeats Democrat Adlai Stevenson.
- 1955 - The rebuilt Vienna State Opera reopens with Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio after it was totally destroyed in World War II.
- 1956 - Soviet troops enter Hungary to end the Hungarian revolution that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are wounded, and nearly a quarter million leave the country.
- 1960 - Filming wraps on The Misfits, starring Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable -- the last film for both.
- 1966 - Two-thirds of Florence, Italy is submerged as the Arno and Po rivers flood; 113 people die, 30,000 are rendered homeless, and countless Renaissance artworks and books are destroyed.
- 1970 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - The United States turns control of the air base in the Mekong Delta over to South Vietnam.
- 1979 - Iran hostage crisis begins: Iranian radicals, mostly students, invade the United States embassy in Tehran and take 90 hostages (63 of whom are American).
- 1980 - U.S. presidential election, 1980: Republican challenger Ronald Reagan defeats incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter by a wide margin.
- 1989 - The congress of the Solidarity Party is inaugurated in Sweden. The congress decides, contrary to the proposal of the central committee, not to disband the party.
- 1993 - Jean Chrétien takes office as Prime Minister of Canada.
- 1993 - Bolivia becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
- 1993 - A series of fires destroy 1000 homes in southern California, causing between 500 million and 1 billion USD of damage. Half of the fires turn out to be arson.
- 1993 - A China Airlines Boeing 747 overran Runway 13 at Hong Kong's Kai Tak International Airport while landing during a typhoon, injuring 22 people.
- 1995 - After attending a peace rally in Tel Aviv's Kings Square, Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin is mortally wounded by an extreme right-wing Israeli assassin. He dies of his wounds later that night in a Tel Aviv Hospital.
- 2001 - Hurricane Michelle hits Cuba, destroying crops and thousands of homes.
- 2001 - The Police Service of Northern Ireland is established.
- 2003 - The largest-ever solar flare is recorded.
- 2003 - Former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy becomes the first person indicted under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. He was eventually acquitted.

Births

- 1448 - King Alphonso II of Naples (d. 1495)
- 1470 - King Edward V of England, one of the two princes in the Tower
- 1575 - Guido Reni, Italian painter (d. 1642)
- 1631 - Mary of Orange, eldest daughter of Charles I of England and mother of William III of England (d. 1660)
- 1661 - Karl III Philip, Elector Palatine (d. 1742)
- 1740 - Augustus Montague Toplady, author of hymn, "Rock of Ages"
- 1765 - Pierre Girard, French mathematician (d. 1836)
- 1836 - Henry J. Lutcher, Business leader (d. 1912)
- 1874 - Aleksandr Vasilevich Kolchak, Russian military commander (d. 1920)
- 1879 - Will Rogers, American humorist and entertainer (d. 1935)
- 1883 - Nikolaos Plastiras, Greek general and politician (d. 1953)
- 1901 - Princess Bang-ja of Korea (d. 1989)
- 1908 - Józef Rotblat, Polish physicist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 2005)
- 1909 - Skeeter Webb, baseball player (d. 1986)
- 1912 - Vadim Salmanov, Russian composer (d. 1978)
- 1913 - Gig Young, American actor (d. 1978)
- 1914 - Martin Balsam, American actor (d. 1996)
- 1916 - Walter Cronkite, American news broadcaster
- 1918 - Art Carney, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1923 - Freddy Heineken, Dutch businessman (d. 2002)
- 1929 - Doris Roberts, American actress
- 1930 - Dick Groat, baseball player
- 1932 - Thomas Klestil, President of Austria (d. 2004)
- 1937 - Loretta Swit, American actress
- 1944 - Scherrie Payne, American singer (The Supremes)
- 1946 - Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States
- 1946 - Robert Mapplethorpe, American photographer (d. 1989)
- 1951 - Traian Băsescu, President of Romania
- 1953 - Carlos Gutierrez, American politician
- 1955 - Matti Vanhanen, Prime Minister of Finland
- 1961 - Kathy Griffin, American comedienne and actress
- 1961 - Daron Hagen, American composer, conductor, and collaborative pianist
- 1961 - Ralph Macchio, American actor
- 1961 - Les Sampou, American musician
- 1965 - Wayne Static, American singer and guitarist (Static-X)
- 1969 - Matthew McConaughey, American actor
- 1969 - Sean Jean "Puff Daddy" Combs, American rapper
- 1972 - Luis Figo, Portuguese footballer
- 1972 - Tabassum Hashmi, Indian actress
- 1975 - Eduard Kokcharov, Russian handball player
- 1976 - Mario Melchiot, Dutch footballer
- 1986 - Alexz Johnson, Canadian singer

Deaths

- 1411 - Khalil Sultan, ruler of Transoxonia (b. 1384)
- 1584 - Saint Charles Borromeo, Italian cardinal (b. 1538)
- 1652 - Jean-Charles de la Faille, Belgian mathematician (b. 1597)
- 1669 - Johannes Cocceius, Dutch theologian (b. 1603)
- 1698 - Rasmus Bartholin, Danish physician and mathematician (b. 1625)
- 1702 - John Benbow, English admiral (b. 1653)
- 1704 - Andreas Acoluthus, German orientalist (b. 1654)
- 1781 - Johann Nikolaus Götz, German poet (b. 1721)
- 1801 - William Shippen, American physician and delegate to the Continental Congress (b. 1712)
- 1847 - Felix Mendelssohn, German composer (b. 1809)
- 1893 - Pierre Tirard, French politician (b. 1827)
- 1918 - Wilfred Owen, English poet (b. 1893)
- 1924 - Gabriel Fauré, French composer (b. 1845)
- 1928 - Arnold Rothstein, American gambler (b. 1882)
- 1930 - Buddy Bolden, American musician (b. 1877)
- 1955 - Cy Young, baseball player (b. 1867)
- 1968 - Michel Kikoine, Belarusian painter (b. 1892)
- 1980 - Elsie MacGill, Canadian aeronautical engineer (b. 1905)
- 1982 - Dominique Dunne, American actress (b. 1959)
- 1986 - Kurt Hirsch, German mathematician (b. 1906)
- 1995 - Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (assassinated) (b. 1922)
- 1999 - Malcolm Marshall, West Indian cricketer (b. 1958)
- 2003 - Richard Wollheim, British philosopher (b. 1923)

Holidays

- Roman festivals - start of the Ludi Plebeii
- R.C. Saints - Feast day of the following Roman Catholic Saints:
- St. Charles Borromeo
- St. Birrstan
- St. Clarus
- St. Emeric
- St. Joannicus
- St. Modesta
- St. Nicander and Hermas
- St. Philologus and Patrobas
- St. Pierius
- St. Vitalis
- Also see November 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Qudrat (Power) - First day of the 13th month of the Bahá'í calendar
- Italy - celebration of victory in WWI, the date of the Armed Forces
- Russia - Day of People’s Unity (or National Unity Day)

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/4 BBC: On This Day] ---- November 3 - November 5 - October 4 - December 4 - more historical anniversaries ko:11월 4일 ms:4 November ja:11月4日 simple:November 4 th:4 พฤศจิกายน

November 4

November 4 is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 57 days remaining.

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays

External links

Leap year

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

Gregorian calendar

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

Which day is the leap day?

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

Julian calendar

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

Revised Julian Calendar

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

Chinese calendar

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

Hebrew calendar

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

Hindu Calendar

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

Iranian calendar

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

Long term leap year rules

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

Marriage proposal

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

Saint Patrick and the leap year

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

Birthdays

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

1576

Events

- May 5 - Peace of Beaulieu or Peace of Monsieur (after Monsieur, the Duc d'Anjou, brother of the King, who negotiated it). End of the Fifth War of Religion Once again, the Protestants are granted freedom of worship.
- August 11 - English navigator Martin Frobisher, on his search for the Northwest Passage, enters the bay now named after him.
- October 3 - The Spanish Fury. Mutinous Spanish troops capture and sack Antwerp.
- November 2 - Rudolf II becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
- November 4 - Eighty Years' War: In Belgium, Spain captures Antwerp (after three days the city was nearly destroyed).
- November 8 - Eighty Years' War: Pacification of Ghent - The States-General of the Netherlands meet and unite to oppose Spanish occupation.
- The city Fredrikstad of Norway founded by king Frederick II of Denmark and Norway.
- Beginning of the Seventh War of Religion in France.
- First known Autobiography is written by Thomas Wythorne.

Births

- January 12 - Petrus Scriverius, Dutch writer and scholar (died 1660)
- May 27 - Caspar Schoppe, German controversialist and scholar (died 1649)
- June 6 - Giovanni Diodati, Swiss Protestant divine (died 1649)
- October 7 - John Marston, English writer (died 1634)
- October 12 - Thomas Dudley, Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony (died 1652)
- November 17 - Roque Gonzales, Paraguayan missionary (d. 1628)
- November 27 - Shimazu Tadatsune, Japanese ruler of Satsuma (died 1638)
- William Ames, English protestant philosopher (died 1633)
- Scipione Borghese, Italian art collector (died 1633)
- John Carver, first governor of Plymouth Colony (died 1621)
- Jesper Mattson Cruus af Edeby, Swedish soldier and politician (died 1622)
- Enrico Caterino Davila, Italian historian (died 1631)
- Giulio Cesare la Galla, professor of philosophy at the Collegio Romano in Italy (died 1624)
- Santino Solari, Swiss architect and sculptor (died 1646)
- Thomas Weelkes, English composer and organist (died 1626) See also :Category: 1576 births.

Deaths

- January 19 - Hans Sachs, German Meistersinger (born 1494)
- February 10 - Guilielmus Xylander, German classical scholar (born 1532)
- May 30 - Harada Naomasa, Japanese samurai
- August 15 - Bálint Bakfark, Hungarian composer and lutenist (born 1507)
- August 27 - Titian, Italian painter
- September 21 - Gerolamo Cardano, Italian mathematician, physician, astrologer and gambler (b. 1502)
- October 12 - Emperor Maximilian II (born 1527)
- Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex (born 1541)
- Aloysius Lilius, Italian physician (born 1510)
- Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1527)
- Anthony More, Dutch portrait painter (born 1512)
- Mizuno Nobumoto, Japanese shogun
- Luis de Zúñiga y Requesens, Spanish governor of the Netherlands
- Josias Simmler, Swiss theologian and classicist (born 1530)
- Johann Stumpf, Swiss historian (born 1500)
- Tahmasp I, Shah of Persia
- Nicola Vicentino, Italian music theorist and composer (born 1511) See also :Category: 1576 deaths. Category:1576 ko:1576년

Belgium

The Kingdom of Belgium (Dutch: Koninkrijk België; French: Royaume de Belgique; German: Königreich Belgien) is a country in northwest Europe bordered by the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France. Belgium has a population of over ten million people in an area of thirty thousand square kilometres. Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Romance Europe, it is both linguistically and culturally divided. Two major languages are spoken in Belgium: Dutch—sometimes unofficially called Flemish—spoken in Flanders to the north; and French, spoken in Wallonia in the south. The capital, Brussels, is officially bilingual. In addition to the two, an officially recognized minority of German speakers is present in the east. This linguistic diversity often leads to political conflict, and is reflected in Belgium's complex system of government and political history. Belgium derives its name from its first named inhabitants, the Belgae, a group of mostly Celtic tribes, and from the Roman province in northern Gaul, known as Gallia Belgica. Historically, Belgium has been a part of the Low Countries, which also includes the Netherlands and Luxembourg. From the end of the Middle Ages until the seventeenth century, it was a prosperous center of commerce and culture. From the sixteenth century until independence in 1830, Belgium, called at that time the Southern Netherlands, was the site of many battles between the European powers, and has been dubbed "the Cockpit of Europe." More recently, Belgium was a founding member of the European Union, hosting its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organisations, such as NATO.
History
Over the past two millennia, the area that is now known as Belgium has seen significant demographic, political and cultural upheavals. The first well-documented population move was the conquest of the region by the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC, followed in the 5th century by the Germanic Franks. The Franks established the Merovingian kingdom, which became the Carolingian Empire in the 8th century. During the Middle Ages, the Low Countries were split into many small feudal states. Most of them were united in the course of the 14th and 15th centuries by the house of Burgundy as the Burgundian Netherlands. These states gained a degree of autonomy in the 15th century and were thereafter named the Seventeen Provinces. The history of Belgium can be distinguished from that of the Low Countries from the 16th century. A civil war, the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), divided the Seventeen Provinces into the United Provinces in the north and the Southern Netherlands in the south. The southern provinces were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs. Until independence, the Southern Netherlands were sought after by numerous French conquerors and were the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. Following the Campaigns of 1794 in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Low Countries—including territories that were never under Habsburg rule, such the Bishopric of Liège—were overrun by France, ending Spanish-Austrian rule in the region. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the end of the French Empire in 1815. The 1830 Belgian Revolution led to the establishment of an independent, Catholic and neutral Belgium under a provisional government. Since the installation of Leopold I as king in 1831, Belgium has been a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. Between independence and World War II, the democratic system evolved from an oligarchy characterised by two main parties, the Catholics and the Liberals, to a universal suffrage system that has included a third party, the Belgian Labour Party, and a strong role for the trade unions. Originally, French, which was the adopted language of the nobility and the bourgeoisie was the official language. The country has since developed a bilingual Dutch-French system. The Berlin Conference of 1885 agreed to hand over Congo to King Leopold II as his private possession, called the Congo Free State. In 1908, it was ceded to Belgium as a colony, henceforth called the Belgian Congo. Belgium's neutrality was violated in 1914, when Germany invaded Belgium as part of the Schlieffen Plan. The former German colonies Ruanda-Urundi—now called Rwanda and Burundi—were occupied by the Belgian Congo in 1916. They were mandated in 1924 to Belgium by the League of Nations. Belgium was again invaded by Germany in 1940 during the blitzkrieg offensive. The Belgian Congo gained its independence on 30 July 1960 during the Congo Crisis, and Ruanda-Urundi became independent in 1962. After World War II, Belgium joined NATO and, together with the Netherlands and Luxembourg, formed the Benelux group of nations. Belgium was also one of the founding members of the European Economic Community. Belgium hosts the headquarters of NATO and a major part of the European Union's institutions and administrations, including the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and most of the sessions of the European Parliament. During the 20th century, and in particular since World War II, the history of Belgium has been increasingly dominated by the autonomy of its two main language communities. This period saw a rise in intercommunal tensions, and the unity of the Belgian state has come under scrutiny. Through constitutional reforms in the 1970s and 1980s, regionalisation of the unitary state had led to the establishment of a three-tiered system of federal, linguistic-community and regional governments, a compromise designed to minimise linguistic tensions.
Politics
federal Belgium is a constitutional popular monarchy and parliamentary democracy that evolved after World War II from a unitary state to a federation. The bicameral parliament is composed of a Senate and a Chamber of Representatives. The former is a mix of directly elected senior politicians and representatives of the communities and regions; while the latter represents all Belgians over the age of eighteen in a proportional voting system. Belgium is one of the few countries that has compulsory voting, thus having one of the highest rates of voter turnout in the world. The federal government, formally nominated by the king, must have the confidence of the Chamber of Representatives. It is led by the Prime Minister. The numbers of Dutch- and French-speaking ministers are equal as prescribed by the Constitution. The King or Queen is the head of state, though he has limited prerogatives. Actual power is vested in the Prime Minister and the different governments, who govern the country. The judicial system is based on civil law and originates from the Napoleonic code. The Court of Appeals is one level below the Court of Cassation, an institution based on the French Court of Cassation. Belgium's political institutions are complex; most political power is organised around the need to represent the main language communities. Since around 1970, the significant national Belgian political parties has split into distinct components that mainly represent the interests of these communities. The major parties in each community belong to three main political families: the right-wing Liberals, the centrist Christian Democrats, and the left-wing Social Democrats. Other important younger parties are the Green parties and, especially in Flanders, the nationalist and far-right parties. Politics is strongly influenced by powerful lobby groups, such as trade unions and business interests in the form of the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium, or the Roman Catholic Church and the Freemasonry. Freemasonry The current king, Albert II, succeeded King Baudouin in 1993. In 1999, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt from the VLD has led a six-party Liberal-Social Democrat-Greens coalition, often referred to as 'the rainbow government'. This was the first government without the Christian Democrats since 1958. In the 2003 elections, Verhofstadt won a second term in office and has led a Liberal-Social Democrat coalition of four parties. More recently however, the steady rise of the Flemish ultra-right nationalist separatist party Vlaams Belang, has superseded the Vlaams Blok amidst concerns of racism promoted by the party. A significant achievement of the two successive Verhofstadt governments has been the achievement of a balanced budget; Belgium is one of the few member-states of the EU to have done so. This policy was applied by the successive governments during the 1990s under pressure from the European Council. The fall of the previous government was mainly due to the dioxin crisis, a major food intoxication scandal in 1999 that led to the establishment of the Belgian Food Agency. This event resulted in an atypically large representation by the Greens in parliament, and a greater emphasis on environmental politics during the first Verhofstadt government. One Green policy, for example, resulted in nuclear phase-out legislation, which has been modified by the current government. The absence of Christian Democrats from the ranks of the government has enabled Verhofstadt to tackle social issues from a more liberal point of view and to develop new legislation on the use of soft drugs, same-sex marriage and euthanasia. During the two most recent parliaments, the government has promoted active diplomacy in Africa, opposed a military intervention during the Iraq disarmament crisis, and has passed legislation concerning war crimes. Both of Verhofstadt's terms have been marked by disputes between the Belgian communities. The major points of contention are the nocturnal air traffic routes at Brussels Airport and the status of the electoral district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde.
Communities and regions
Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (the German-speaking Community is located in the province of Liège along the German border) and the bilingual Capital Region of Brussels. The boundary between these regions is marked in red.]] The country's constitution was revised on 14 July 1993 to create a unique federal state, based on three levels: #The federal government, based in Brussels. #The three language communities: #
- the Flemish (i.e., Dutch-speaking) Community; #
- the French (i.e., French-speaking) Community; and #
- the German-speaking Community. # The three regions (which differ from the language communities with respect to the German-speaking community and the Brussels region): #
- the Flemish Region; #
- the Walloon Region; and #
- the Brussels-Capital Region. Conflicts between the bodies are resolved by the Court of Arbitration. The setup allows a compromise to distinctly different cultures live together peacefully. The Flemish Community absorbed the Flemish Region in 1980 to form the government of Flanders. The overlapping boundaries of the Regions and Communities have created two notable peculiarities: the territory of the Brussels-Capital Region is included in both Flemish and French Communities, and the territory of the German-speaking Community lies wholly within the Walloon Region. Flemish and Walloon regions are furthermore subdivided in administrative entities, the provinces. At the highest level of this three-tiered setup is the federal government which manages foreign affairs, development aid, defence, military, police, economic management, social welfare, social security transport, energy, telecommunications, and scientific research, limited competencies in education and culture, and the supervision of taxation by regional authorities. The federal government controls more than 90 per cent of all taxation. The community governments are responsible for the promotion of language, culture and education in mostly schools, libraries and theatres. The third tier is the Regional governments, who manage mostly land and property based issues such as housing, transportation etc. For example, a school building in Brussels belonging to the public school systemwould be regulated by the regional government of Brussels. However, the school as an institution would fall under the regulations of the Flemish government if the primary language of teaching is Dutch, but under the French Community government if the primary language is French.
Geography
social security, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges and Namur are the seven largest cities of Belgium, with populations above 100,000]] Belgium, with an area of 30,528 km², has three main geographical regions: the coastal plain in the north-west, the central plateau, and the Ardennes uplands in the south-east. The coastal plain consists mainly of sand dunes and polders. Polders are areas of land, close to or below sea level that have been reclaimed from the sea, from which they are protected by dikes or, further inland, by fields that have been drained with canals. The second geographical region, the central plateau, lies further inland. This is a smooth, slowly rising area that has many fertile valleys and is irrigated by many waterways. Here one can also find rougher land, including caves and small gorges. gorge The third geographical region, called the Ardennes, is more rugged than the first two. It is a thickly forested plateau, very rocky and not very good for farming, which extends into northern France. This is where much of Belgium's wildlife can be found. Belgium's highest point, the Signal de Botrange is located in this region at only 694 metres. The climate is maritime temperate, with significant precipitation in all seasons (Köppen climate classification: Cfb; the average temperature is 3°C in January, and 18°C in July; the average precipitation is 65 mm in January, and 78 mm in July).
Economy
Densely populated, Belgium is located at the heart of one of the world's most highly industrialised regions. Köppen climate classification, near Liège.]] Belgium was the first continental European country to undergo the Industrial Revolution, in the early 1800s. Liège and Charleroi rapidly developed mining and steelmaking, which flourished until the mid-20th century. However, by the 1840s the textile industry of Flanders was in severe crisis and there was famine in Flanders (1846–50). After World War II, Ghent and Antwerp experienced a fast expansion of the chemical and petroleum industries. The 1973 and 1979 oil crises sent the economy into a prolonged recession. The Belgian steel industry has since experienced serious decline. This has been responsible for inhibiting the economic development of Wallonia. In the 1980s and 90s, the economic centre of the country continued to shift northwards to Flanders. Nowadays, industry is concentrated in the populous Flemish area in the north. By the end of the 1980s, Belgian macroeconomic policies had resulted in a cumulative government debt of about 120% of GDP. Currently, although the government has recently succeeded in balancing its budget, public debt is nearly 100% of GDP. In 2004, the real growth rate of GDP was estimated at 2.7% but is expected to fall to 1.3% in 2005. Belgium has a particularly open economy. It has developed an excellent transportation infrastructure of ports, canals, railways and highways to integrate its industry with that of its neighbours. Antwerp is the second-largest European port. One of the founding members of the European Union, Belgium strongly supports the extension of the powers of EU institutions to integrate the member economies. In 1999, Belgium adopted the euro, the single European currency, which replaced the Belgian franc in 2002. The Belgian economy is strongly oriented towards foreign trade, in particular of high value-added goods. The main imports are food products, machinery, rough diamonds, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, clothing and accessories, and textiles. The main exports are automobiles, food and food products, iron and steel, finished diamonds, textiles, plastics, petroleum products, and nonferrous metals. Since 1922, Belgium and Luxembourg have been a single trade market within a customs and currency union—the Belgian-Luxembourgian Economic Union. Its main trading partners are Germany, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States and Spain. Belgium ranks ninth on the 2005 United Nations Human Development Index.
Demographics
The population density (342 per km²) is one of the highest in Europe, after the Netherlands and some smaller countries such as Monaco. The areas with the highest population density are around the Brussels-Antwerp-Ghent-Leuven agglomerations, as well as other important urban centres as Liège, Charleroi, Kortrijk, Bruges, Hasselt and Namur. The Ardennes have the lowest density. As of 2005, the Flemish Region has a population of about 6,043,161, Wallonia 3,395,942 and Brussels 1,006,749. Almost all of the population is urban (97.3% in 1999). The main cities and their populations are Brussels (1,006,749), Antwerp (457,749), Ghent (230,951), Charleroi (201,373), and Liège (185,574). Namur and the Catholic Church.]] About 60% of the country is Dutch-speaking, 40% French-speaking, and 1% German-speaking. However, these figures must be interpreted cautiously, because the most recent linguistic census was taken before 1960, and the mother tongue is not always the same as the language used in public or in official life. Brussels is officially French-Dutch bilingual, but mostly French speaking; it evolved from a Dutch-speaking place to its current dominantly French character when the Belgian state became independent in 1830. Both the Dutch spoken in Belgium and the Belgian French have minor differences in vocabulary and semantic nuances from the varieties spoken in France and the Netherlands. Many people can still speak dialects of Flemish and Walloon. These dialects, along with some other ones like Picard or Limburgish, are not used in public life. The laïque constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice. According to the 2001 Survey and Study of Religion, about 47% of the population identify themselves as belonging to the Catholic Church. According to these figures, the Muslim population is the second largest religious community, at 3.5% (see Religion in Belgium). Since independence, Catholicism, counterbalanced by strong freethought movements, has had an important role in Belgium's politics, in particular via the Christian trade union (CSC/ACV) and the Christian Democrat parties (CD&V, CDH). 98% of the adult population is literate. Education is compulsory from the ages of six to 18, but many Belgians continue to study until the age of about 23. Among the OECD countries in 1999, Belgium had the third highest proportion of 18–21-year-olds enrolled in postsecondary education, at 42%. Nevertheless, in recent years, concern is rising over certain forms of illiteracy, such as functional illiteracy. In the period 1994–98, 18.4% of the population lacks functional literacy skills. Mirroring the historical political conflicts between the freethought and Catholic segments of the population, the Belgian educational system in each communities is split into a laïque branch controlled by the communities, the provinces, or the municipalities, and a subsidised religious—mostly Catholic—branch controlled by both the communities and the religious authorities—usually the dioceses.
Culture
Belgian cultural life has tended to concentrate within each community. The shared element is less important, because there are no bilingual universities, except the royal military academy, no common media, and no single, common large cultural or scientific organisation where both main communities are represented. Aside from these differences, Belgium is well-known for its fine art and architecture. The region corresponding to today's Belgium has seen the flourishing of major artistic movements that have had tremendous influence over European art. The Mosan art, the Early Netherlandish, the Flemish Renaissance and Baroque painting, and major examples of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture, and the Renaissance vocal music of the Dutch School developed in the southern part of the Low Countries, are milestones in the history of art. Dutch School. This painting is inspired by the many folk festivals in Belgium.]] This rich artistic production, often referred to as a whole as Flemish art, gradually declined during the second half of the 17th century. However, in the 19th and 20th centuries, many original artists appeared. In music, Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone in 1846. Eugène Ysaÿe was a major 19th- and 20th-century Belgian violinist (See also Music of Belgium). In architecture, Victor Horta was a major initiator of the Art Nouveau style. Belgium has produced famous romantic, expressionist and surrealist painters; these include Egide Wappers, James Ensor, Constant Permeke and René Magritte. In literature, Belgium has produced several well-known authors, such as the poets Emile Verhaeren, Jacques Brel and novelists Hendrik Conscience and Georges Simenon. The poet and playwright Maurice Maeterlinck won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1911. The best known Franco-Belgian comics are The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé but many other major authors of comics have been Belgian, including Edgar P. Jacobs and André Franquin. More recently, notable cinema directors have emerged, most of them strongly influenced by French cinema. The absence of a major Belgian cinema company has forced them to emigrate or participate in low-budget productions. Belgian directors include Stijn Coninx, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne; actors include Jan Decleir, Marie Gillain; and films include Man Bites Dog and The Alzheimer Affair. In the 1980s, Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts has produced the important fashion trendsetters, the Antwerp Six. Belgium has also contributed to the development of science and technology. The mathematician Simon Stevin, the anatomist Andreas Vesalius and the cartographer Gerardus Mercator are among the most influential scientists from the beginning of Early Modern in the Low Countries. More recently, at the end of the 19th century, in applied science, the chemist Ernest Solvay and the engineer Zenobe Gramme have given their names to the Solvay process and the Gramme dynamo. Georges Lemaître is a famous Belgian cosmologist credited with proposing the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe in 1927. Three Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine have been awarded to Belgians: Jules Bordet in 1919, Corneille Heymans in 1938, and Albert Claude and Christian De Duve in 1974. Ilya Prigogine was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1977. One could not understand Belgian cultural life without considering the folk festivals, which play a major role in the country's cultural life. Examples are the Carnival of Binche, the Ducasse of Ath, the procession of the Holy Blood in Bruges, the 15th-of-August festival in Liège, and the Walloon festival in Namur. A major non-official holiday is the Saint Nicholas Day, which commemorates the festival of the children and, in Liège, of the students. Belgium is well represented in the world of sport—football (soccer) and cycling are especially popular. The national football team is the Red Devils. Among the well known cyclists, Eddy Merckx, won five Tours de France. Belgium also has two current female tennis champions: Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne. Many highly ranked restaurants can be found in the high-impact gastronomic guides, such as the Michelin Guide. Brands of Belgian chocolate, like Neuhaus, are world renowned and widely sold; even the cheapest and most popular brand, Leonidas, has earned a reputation for its quality. Belgium produces over 500 varieties of beer (ales, pils) (see Belgian beer). Belgians have a reputation for loving waffles and French fries, both originally from Belgium; the national food is steak (or mussels) with French fries.
Related topics

- Communications in Belgium
- Education in Belgium
- Football in Belgium
- Foreign relations of Belgium
- List of Belgian municipalities by population
- List of Belgians
- List of Belgium-related topics
- Military of Belgium
- Public holidays in Belgium
- Tourism in Belgium
- Transportation in Belgium
External links

- [http://www.Belgium.be/ Official site of the Belgian federal government]
- [http://www.visitbelgium.com/ Official site of Belgian tourist office in the Americas]
- [http://www.goldenpages.be/ Telephone directory online]
- [http://www.mediatico.com/en/newspapers/europe/belgium Belgian Newspapers]
- [http://wikitravel.org/en/article/Belgium Wikitravel guide]
- [http://www.175-25.be/ Belgium is celebrating the 175th anniversary of its independence and the 25th anniversary of the federal state]
- [http://www.bruessel-gui.de/bruessel/bildergalerien.html bruessel-gui.de - Images: Brussels & Belgium]
References

- [http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/lowcountries/xbelgium.html World history at KLMA]
- [http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/europe/belgiqueacc.htm L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde] in French by Jacques Leclerc, University of Laval, Canada
- [http://statbel.fgov.be/port/cou_eu_en.asp#BE Portal of the INS to statisical publications about Belgium]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/be.html CIA World Fact Book]
- [http://www.fed-parl.be/constitution_uk.html Constitution of Belgiu