Main Page

The Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men were five volumes of Dionysius Lardner’s 133-volume Cabinet Cyclopaedia (1829–46). Aimed at the self-educating middle class, this encyclopedia was written during the 19th-century literary revolution in Britain that encouraged more people to read. The Lives formed part of the Cabinet of Biography in the Cabinet Cyclopaedia. The three-volume Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men of Italy, Spain and Portugal (1835–37) and the two-volume Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men of France (1838–39) consist of biographies of important writers and thinkers of the 14th to 18th centuries. Most of them were authored by the Romantic writer Mary Shelley. Shelley's biographies reveal her as a professional woman of letters, contracted to produce several volumes of works and paid well to do so. Her extensive knowledge of history and languages, her ability to tell a gripping biographical narrative, and her interest in the burgeoning field of feminist historiography are reflected in these works. At times Shelley had trouble finding sufficient research materials and had to make do with fewer resources than she would have liked, particularly for the Spanish and Portuguese Lives. She wrote in a style that combined secondary sources, memoir, anecdote, and her own opinions. (more...)

Recently featured: 2005 Texas Longhorns football team – Fountain of Time – Oberon

From Wikipedia's newest articles:

• ... that among mountain bike orienteers with multiple world championships gold medals are Michaela Gigon, Christine Schaffner (pictured), Ksenia Chernykh, Adrian Jackson and Ruslan Gritsan?
• ... that Carrier Strike Group Ten can trace its organizational lineage to Destroyer Flotilla Two created during World War I by the U.S. Navy?
• ... that Dr. James Mourilyan Tanner developed a scale to measure sexual maturation, based on size of the genitals and the quantity of pubic hair?
• ... that in the last days of World War II, the Red Army's arrival in Demmin triggered a mass suicide of several hundred people?
• ... that Michigan's starting quarterbacks under head coach Bennie Oosterbaan included John Ghindia (1949), Lou Baldacci (1953–1954), and Jim Maddock (1954–1956)?
• ... that a newly constructed powership, a floating power plant, supplies 144 MW of electricity to Basra in south-eastern Iraq?
• ... that Mikołaj Błociszewski was the Polish negotiator in the diplomatic negotiations whose failure led to the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War?
• ... that Jon Hess, Chris Massey and Jesse Hubbard formed the 1996, 1997 and 1998 national champion Princeton lacrosse potent offense, while Christian Cook led the defense and Josh Sims developed as a midfield scoring threat?
• ... that on Easter Monday, 1916, George Plunkett waved down a tram in Dublin with his revolver and paid for 52 tickets to get his heavily armed Irish Volunteers to take part in the Easter Rising?
  
  Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

• Thirty thousand people in North Carolina, United States, are evacuated ahead of Hurricane Earl (pictured), which has impacted the Leeward Islands.
• Three bombings kill at least 30 people and injure more than 200 others in Lahore, Pakistan.
• In the Iraq War, Operation Iraqi Freedom concludes and Operation New Dawn begins, marking the end of foreign combat operations in Iraq.
• The discovery of Balaur, a new genus of dinosaurs closely related to Velociraptor, is announced.
• Argentine footballer Francisco Varallo, the last surviving player from the inaugural FIFA World Cup, dies at the age of 100.
• A mass shooting in Bratislava, Slovakia, leaves eight people dead, including the gunman.
• Mount Sinabung, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, produces its first volcanic eruption since 1600, causing more than 18,000 residents to flee.
• Mad Men and Modern Family win the awards for Outstanding Drama and Comedy, respectively, at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards.
  Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...

September 3: Quds Day (Iran, 2010); Independence Day in Qatar (1971); Flag Day in Australia; Armed Forces Day in Taiwan

• 301 – San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the world's oldest republic still in existence, was founded by Saint Marinus.
• 590 – Gregory I became pope, the first one to come from a monastic background.
• 1189 – Richard the Lionheart was crowned King of England in Westminster.
• 1260 – Egyptian Mamluks defeated the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut in Palestine.
• 1783 – Great Britain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris, formally ending the American Revolutionary War.
• 1901 – The National Flag of Australia, a Blue Ensign defaced with the Commonwealth Star and the Southern Cross, flew for the first time atop the Royal Exhibition Building (pictured) in Melbourne.
• 1976 – The NASA Viking 2 spacecraft landed at Utopia Planitia on Mars.

More anniversaries: September 2 – September 3 – September 4