☮️ On this day in 1775: The Second Continental Congress adopts the Olive Branch Petition. 

📝 Article by Harrison W. Mark. 
🖼️ Images by the US Library of Congress and Allan Ramsay. 

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🪨 Marble figurines from Naxos in the Cyclades. They are generally found in a burial context across the Cyclades group.

These examples date to between 2800 and 2300 BCE. 

📷 Photo by Mark Cartwright.

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👑 The Hyksos were a West Semitic-speaking people who gained a foothold in Egypt circa 1782 BCE at the city of Avaris in Lower Egypt. 

📝 Article by Joshua J. Mark. 
📷 Photos 1 and 2 are ©️ by the Trustees of the British Museum. 
📷 Photo 3 is by Rüdiger Stehn.

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🔴⚪🔵 The Declaration of Independence is the foundational document of the United States of America. It explains why the Thirteen Colonies decided to separate from Great Britain during the American Revolution (1765-1789).

📝 Article by Harrison W. Mark.

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🪨 The wedded rocks known as Meoto-iwa are located in Japan near Ise jingu. They represent the two creator gods of the Shinto religion, Izanami and Izanagi.

📷 Photo by Taku. 

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🇺🇸 Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was an American lawyer, statesman, philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States.

📝 Article by Harrison W. Mark. 

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🗺️ This #map shows the Dutch commercial empire at its height during the #Dutch Golden Age (c. 1588-1672). Unlike many territorial empires, Dutch influence was built primarily upon a vast network of strategic ports, fortified settlements, #trading posts, and maritime routes.

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✨ Roman spherical perfume containers in coloured glass. 1st-2nd century CE. Provenance unknown. (Archaeological Museum of Pavia, Italy).

📷 Photo by Mark Cartwright. 


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☀️ The Aztec Sun Stone (the Calendar Stone) is a representation of the five eras of the sun from Aztec mythology.

The stone was part of the architectural complex of the Temple Mayor of Tenochtitlán and dates to c. 1427 CE. 

📷 Photo by Dennis Jarvis. 

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Marco Polo’s travels (1271–1295) represent one of the most famous #European journeys into #Asia. Marco Polo set out from #Venice and crossed through the Middle East and Central Asia before reaching the Yuan dynasty court of Kublai Khan (r. 1260–1294).

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✍🏼💭 Nabu (sometimes known as Tutu) was the Babylonian god of wisdom, learning, prophecy, scribes, and writing, also responsible for the abundant harvest and all growing things.

📝 Article by Joshua J. Mark. 
📷 Photos ©️ by Osama S.M. Amin & The Trustees of the British Museum.

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👑 On this day in 548 CE: Empress Theodora I dies. 

Theodora reigned as empress of the Byzantine Empire alongside her husband, Emperor Justinian I, from 527 CE until her death in 548 CE.

📝 Article by Mark Cartwright. 
🖼️ Image by The Yorck Project. 

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🎨 Sappho and Alcaeus, oil on panel by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1881.

Sappho and her companions are enraptured by the performance of the poet Alcaeus playing a kithara.

The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

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✨ Octavia Minor (circa 69 BCE to 11 BCE) was a Roman noblewoman who rose to prominence during the early years of the Roman Empire. 

📝 Article by Harrison W. Mark. 
📷 Photos by G.dallorto and J. Paul Getty Museum. 

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🏛️ On this day in 356 BCE: The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is destroyed by arson.

📝 Article by Mark Cartwright. 
📷 Photos by Faigl.ladislav and Carole Raddato. 

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♟️ Happy International Chess Day! 

♟️ Walrus ivory knight chess piece armed with a spear and kite-shaped shield from the Lewis series, found in Scotland, dated to c. 1150-1175. Photo by The British Museum, London.

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The #Iliad situates the #Trojan War on the coastal plain below the fortified city, widely identified with the archaeological site of #Troy (Hisarlık) in northwestern Anatolia, near the Dardanelles.

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83 years ago today, soldiers of the 2nd Armored Division get a warm welcome from the citizens of Sicily’s capital city Palermo. 🪖

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During the Battle of Monte Cassino, a Sherman tank, shrouded in a protective smoke screen, waits to move forward into the fray. 🪖

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82 years ago today, Prime Minister Winston Churchill & General Bernard Montgomery talking to some of the troops who took part in the D-Day landings. 🪖

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With geysers from enemy shells erupting in the water & artillery exploding on the beach, General Patton waded through the surf at Gela in July of 1943. 🪖

At the sight of Patton, some men climbed out of their foxholes & charged across the dunes at the Germans, prompting a reporter to write: “I saw, for the first time, just how a brave general can turn the tide of battle by sheer leadership.” 🇺🇸

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