Estonia

Daily Pic (Frankfurt Christkindchesmarkt)

Patrice von Collani/Westend61/Offset

A Christmas market with a long history

We think even Scrooge would delight in the Frankfurt Christmas Market, or Christkindchesmarkt (gesundheit!), a tradition that’s been traced back to 1393. Here you can shop for goods from artisans, binge on marzipan candies, and sip a warm cup of mulled wine. Locals can even shop for Christmas trees, a tradition that is said to have originated in this part of the world. The modern Christmas tree tradition as we know it started in the 15th and 16th centuries in northern Germany and Livonia (present-day Estonia and Latvia). It’s believed the Protestant reformer Martin Luther was the first to add lighted candles to an evergreen. Sidenote: That had to be a fire hazard, right?

Daily Pic 11/29/17

© Ted Vancleave/Gallery Stock

Union Station, Los Angeles, California



Today in History 09/06 (Baltic States)

Pro-independence rally of 300,000 people in Vilnius, Lithuania, Apr 7, 1990 (© Chip HIRES/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)(1991) Three Baltic states break free
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are officially independent republics after more than half a century of Soviet rule. The Baltic States have been vying for independence for almost that long, with the late ’80s’ ‘Singing Revolution’ and ‘Baltic Way’ human chain paving the way for autonomy.
The Baltic states, also known as the Baltic countries, Baltic republics, Baltic nations or simply the Baltics, is a geopolitical term used for grouping the three sovereign states in Northern Europe on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The term is not used in the context of cultural areas, national identity or language. The three countries cooperate on a regional level in several intergovernmental organizations.
Area: 67,574 sq miles
Colleges and universities: University of Tartu · Vilnius University · Vytautas Magnus University · University of Latvia · Riga Technical University · Kaunas University of Technology · Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre · Tallinn University · Lithuanian University of Health Sciences · LCC International University · Baltic Defence College

The Baltic states
   (Green) The Baltic states.
   (Dark-grey) Europe.

wiki/Baltic_states
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(1991) Three Baltic states break free.
Also on this day,

1522 | Nao Victoria sails into Seville after a historic journey round world
After three years, 42,000 miles, and the first circumnavigation of the world, the Nao Victoria sails back into her Spanish home port. Of the original five ships and more than 200 sailors that started Magellan’s expedition, only the Victoria and 18 men have returned from the globe-spanning voyage.
1901 | President William McKinley assassinated
Visiting the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, half a year into his second term, US President William McKinley is shot twice by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. McKinley will at first survive, and even seem to be improving after doctors operate, but will succumb to his wounds eight days later.
1995 | Cal Ripken Jr. breaks Lou Gehrig’s record
The Baltimore Orioles’ shortstop plays in his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking Lou Gehrig’s record which had stood since 1939. Ripken will continue his streak for three more years, ending it in 1998 after 2,632 games played over 16 years.

Today in History 09/06/17

US President William McKinley (left) on the day he was shot, Sept 6, 1901, with John G. Milburn at the Pan American Exposition (© AP)(1901) President William McKinley assassinated
Visiting the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, half a year into his second term, US President William McKinley is shot twice by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. McKinley will at first survive, and even seem to be improving after doctors operate, but will succumb to his wounds eight days later.
On September 6, 1901, William McKinley, the 25th President of the United States, was shot on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition at the Temple of Music in Buffalo, New York. He was shaking hands with the public when Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, shot him twice in the abdomen. McKinley died eight days later on September 14 of gangrene caused by the gunshot wounds. He was the third American president to have been assassinated, following Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and James A. Garfield in 1881.
Date: Sep 06, 1901

wiki/Assassination_of_William_McKinley
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