Italian traveler and merchant, Marco Polo worked for Chinese Emperor Kublai Khan for 17 years as a trading and political ambassador traveling throughout China, as well as Tibet and Burma. After journeying to India, Sumatra, Persia and Turkey, he was later jailed in Italy where he dictated the stories of his adventures to a fellow prisoner; the subsequent book becoming widely read. Polo was popularly believed to have introduced spaghetti to Italy.
On This Day
1908 – King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir, Prince Luis Filipe are assassinated by Republican sympathizers in Lisbon.
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HistoryWow’s Quick Shot Videos
A short, sharp hit of history in video format. Acclaimed Irish playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde was the toast of London society in the 1890s until things came decidedly unstuck through an association with a young British aristocrat, Lord Alfred Douglas, known as ‘Bosie’.
The source for this HistoryWow video is: Oscar and Bosie - A Fatal Passion by Trevor Fisher; General Historical Texts.
More Quick Shot Videos on HistoryWow's YouTube Channel: 
Who Am I?
- I was born in Huanggang, China, in 1908.
- After training as a soldier, I became a leader in the Chinese Communist Party
- During the Chinese Civil War (1927-1950) my leadership was pivotal in a string of Communist victories.
- After the war I initially avoided politics, but later became minister of defence in 1959. In 1968 I replaced Liu Shaoqui (1898-1969) as the heir apparent to Mao Zedong (1893-1976).
- In 1971, after a political struggle, I was killed in a plane crash in Mongolia while attempting to seek refuge in the USSR.
Last week’s answer:
Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)
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HistoryWow’s Highlighted Historical Quotation
“In Russia a man is a called reactionary if he objects to having his property stolen and his wife and children murdered.”
Winston Churchill (1874-1965), British statesmanSource: The Wicket Wit of Winston Churchill by Dominique Enright
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HistoryWow’s Featured Historical Figure of Note
Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149BCE)Roman statesman, soldier and writer of virtue, simplicity and wisdom. He condemned the luxury of his time and was nicknamed “the censor”. He became Consul in 195BCE, took part in the defeat of Hannibal at Zama, held command in Sardinia and Spain, and in 191 BCE assisted the Greeks in overthrowing Antiochus III at Thermopolyae.
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