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Nestor Lakoba (1893–1936) was an Abkhaz Communist leader. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, Lakoba helped establish Bolshevik power in Abkhazia in the Caucasus region of the Soviet Union. As the head of Abkhazia after its conquest by the Bolshevik Red Army in 1921, Lakoba saw that Abkhazia was initially given autonomy as the Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia. Though nominally a part of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic with the special status of "union republic", Abkhazia was effectively a separate republic, made possible by Lakoba's close relationship with Joseph Stalin. In 1931 Lakoba was forced to accept a downgrade of Abkhazia's status to that of an autonomous republic within Georgia. Another confidant of Stalin, Lavrentiy Beria, summoned Lakoba to visit him in Tbilisi in December 1936. Lakoba was poisoned, allowing Beria to consolidate his control over Abkhazia and all of Georgia. (Full article...)

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Depiction of the 1831 Bristol riots

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... that a member of the U.S. Congress referred to the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act as "one of the worst pieces of legislation Congress has passed in a generation"?
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... that the All India Conference of Indian Christians was opposed to the partition of India?
... that in the early years of Montana radio station KGHL, some musical groups had to perform on the roof of the studio building?
... that coal from Turkey fuelled the first submarine in history to fire a torpedo while submerged?
... that the Film Development Board of Nepal refused to issue a production license to Gaja Baja because the title alluded to marijuana?
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U.S. Supreme Court Building

At least twenty soldiers are killed during skirmishes along the Line of Actual Control between China and India.
The U.S. Supreme Court (building pictured) rules that gay and transgender people are protected from employment discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza dies in office at the age of 55.

On this day

June 17

Vlad Dracula

1462 – Ottoman–Hungarian wars: Wallachian forces led by Vlad Dracula (portrait shown) attacked an Ottoman camp at night in an attempt to assassinate Mehmed II.
1795 – French Revolutionary Wars: Off the coast of Brittany, a Royal Navy squadron commanded by William Cornwallis fended off a numerically superior French Navy fleet.
1940 – Second World War: RMS Lancastria was sunk by German aircraft near Saint-Nazaire, France, causing thousands of fatalities in Britain's worst maritime disaster.
1952 – Guatemalan Revolution: The Guatemalan Congress passed Decree 900, redistributing unused land greater than 224 acres (0.91 km²) in area to local peasants.

Sakanoue no Tamuramaro (d. 811)
Daskalogiannis (d. 1771)
Isabelle Delobel (b. 1978)

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Today's featured picture

Charles Gounod (17 June 1818 – 18 October 1893) was a French composer who wrote twelve operas, the most popular of which is Faust (1859). After studying in Paris, his musical career was launched when he won the prestigious Prix de Rome for composition. Studying at the French Institute in Rome made impressions on him both spiritually and musically that stayed with him for the rest of his life. Back in Paris in 1843, he was appointed chapel master of the church of the Missions étrangères before turning to the theatre. His successful musical career was interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War, and in 1870 he moved to London. By the time he returned to Paris a few years later, he remained a respected figure, but was regarded as old-fashioned and further operatic success eluded him. This photograph of Gounod, dating from 1890, was taken by the French portrait photographer Nadar.

Photograph credit: Nadar; restored by Adam Cuerden

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