The ritual of public penance - including death by burning - of condemned heretics, imposed by the Inquisition.
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Fact of the Day
A thirteenth century recipe for hair removal cream included cucumber leaves, almond milk, quicklime, mercury, arsenic, oil, wine, frankincense and cloves.
Quote of the Day
"Revolution is not an apple that falls when it's ripe. You have to make it fall.
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~ Che Guevara
On This Day
62 The Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum suffered an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of between 5 and 6. It caused severe damage and was probably a precursor to the Vesuvius eruption of 79CE.
1811 The Regency Act was passed, allowing Prince George of Wales to rule instead of his mad father, George III.
1924 The Greenwich Time Signal, more commonly known as the pips which broadcast at one-second intervals, was first broadcast.
1945 Second World War Special Operations Executive agents Lilian Rolfe, Denise Bloch and Violette Szabo were executed at Ravensbrück concentration camp after being repeatedly interrogated and tortured.
1953 Sweets were taken 'off ration' in Britain, eight years after the end of World War Two.
1971 Apollo 14 landed on the Moon.