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79 – Mount Vesuvius begins to stir, on the feast day of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.

476 – Odoacer, chieftain of the Germanic tribes is proclaimed rex Italiae – King of Italy – by his troops.

1514 – The Battle of Chaldiran ends with a decisive victory for the Sultan Selim I, Ottoman Empire, over the Shah Ismail I, founder of the Safavid dynasty.

1839 – The United Kingdom captures Hong Kong as a base as it prepares for the First Opium War with Qing China.

1898 – The Southern Cross Expedition, the first British venture of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, leaves London.

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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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Holly may be an AI creation. But she’s an all English girl. History arouses the naughty in her.
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Have you an intriguing, fascinating or inspirational history question and answer? Then, we'd love to hear from you. The best ones, ideally with the source provided, will be posted on either the History Question of the Day or History Question of the Week.

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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.

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The Man Who Could Fly
America's help in the aftermath of World War One

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.

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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 statesman

Source: The Wicket Wit of Winston Churchill by Dominique Enright

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HistoryWow in the News

Articles from The Australian Financial Review, The Australian, Acuity – the professional magazine of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and New Zealand - and more. View here

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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