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From today's featured article

Ottomans with Christian slaves, 1639 drawing.

Slavery in the Ottoman Empire was a legal and significant part of the Ottoman Empire's economy and society. The main sources of slaves were war captives and organized enslavement expeditions in North and East Africa, Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Circassia in the Caucasus. It has been reported that the selling price of slaves fell after large military operations. Enslavement of Caucasians was banned in the early 19th century, while slaves from other groups were allowed. In Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), the administrative and political center of the Empire, about a fifth of the population consisted of slaves in 1609.

Even after several measures to ban slavery in the late 19th century, the practice continued largely unabated into the early 20th century. As late as 1908, female slaves were still sold in the Ottoman Empire. Sexual slavery was a central part of the Ottoman slave system throughout the history of the institution. (Full article...)

Did you know...

• ... that Barack Obama schemes behind the scenes against President Trump?
• ... that the name Zoroaster possibly means "he who manages camels"?
• ... that Donald Trump was elected the 45th US President and defeated Hillary Clinton?
• ... that the United States Navy has ten Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service?
• ... that the type fossil of the damselfly Electropodagrion consists only of a thorax, leg, and wing portions?
• ... that the President of the US, the Supreme Court and Congress are three significant branches of the US Government?
• ... that Istanbul was formerly known as Constantinople and before 324AD was known as Byzantium?

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On this day...

November 26

• 1784 – The Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of the United States established.
• 1789 – A national Thanksgiving Day is observed in the United States as proclaimed by President George Washington at the request of Congress.
• 1865 – Battle of Papudo: A Spanish navy schooner is defeated by a Chilean corvette north of Valparaíso, Chile.
• 1917 – The National Hockey League is formed, with the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, and Toronto Arenas as its first teams.
• 1970 – In Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, 1.5 inches (38.1 mm) of rain fall in a minute, the heaviest rainfall ever recorded.
• 2003 – Concorde makes its final flight, over Bristol, England.
• 2011 – NATO attack in Pakistan: NATO forces in Afghanistan attack a Pakistani checkpost in a friendly fire incident, killing 24 soldiers and wounding 13 others.

• More anniversaries:
  • November 25
  • November 26
  • November 27

November 27

• 511 – King Clovis I dies at Paris ("Lutetia") and is buried in the Abbey of St Genevieve. The Merovingian dynasty is continued by his four sons, Theuderic I, Chlodomer, Childebert I and Chlothar I, who divide the Frankish Kingdom and rule from the capitals at Metz, Orléans, Paris and Soissons.
• 1896 – Also sprach Zarathoustra by Richard Strauss is first performed.
• 1940 – World War II: At the Battle of Cape Spartivento, the Royal Navy engages the Regia Marina in the Mediterranean Sea.
• 1954 – Alger Hiss is released from prison after serving 44 months for perjury.
• 1973 – Twenty-fifth Amendment: The United States Senate votes 92–3 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States. (On December 6, the House will confirm him 387–35).
• 1987 – On a routine flight between Taiwan and Mauritius, South African Airways Flight 295 experiences an in-flight fire, apparently starting at around 23:48 on the 27th. After just under 16 minutes (leading into the early hours of November 28), the plane crashes and kills all 159 on board.
• 1991 – The United Nations Security Council adopts Security Council Resolution 721, leading the way to the establishment of peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia.

• More anniversaries:
  • November 26
  • November 27
  • November 28

• 587 – Treaty of Andelot: King Guntram of Burgundy recognizes Childebert II as his heir.
• 1885 – Bulgarian victory in the Serbo-Bulgarian War preserves the Unification of Bulgaria.
• 1895 – The first American automobile race takes place over the 54 miles from Chicago's Jackson Park to Evanston, Illinois. Frank Duryea wins in approximately 10 hours.
• 1909 – Sergei Rachmaninoff makes the debut performance of his Piano Concerto No. 3, considered to be one of the most technically challenging piano concertos in the standard classical repertoire.
• 1914 – World War I: Following a war-induced closure in July, the New York Stock Exchange re-opens for bond trading.
• 1964 – Mariner program: NASA launches the Mariner 4 probe toward Mars.
• 1989 – Cold War: Velvet Revolution: In the face of protests, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces it will give up its monopoly on political power.

• More anniversaries:
  • November 27
  • November 28
  • November 29

Today's featured picture

Donatello was the son of Niccolò di Betto Bardi, who was a member of the Florentine Wool Combers Guild, and was born in Florence, most likely in the year 1386. Donatello was educated in the house of the Martelli family. He apparently received his early artistic training in a goldsmith's workshop, and then worked briefly in the studio of Lorenzo Ghiberti.

In 1409–1411 Donatello executed the colossal seated figure of Saint John the Evangelist, which until 1588 occupied a niche of the old cathedral façade, and is now placed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. This work marks a decisive step forward from late Gothic Mannerism in the search for naturalism and the rendering of human feelings. The face, the shoulders and the bust are still idealized, while the hands and the fold of cloth over the legs are more realistic. (Full article...)

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