The Guqin is the modern name for a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument of the zither family. It has been played since ancient times, and has traditionally been favored by scholars and literati as an instrument of great subtlety and refinement. Traditionally the instrument was called simply Qin, but by the 20th century the term had come to be applied to many other musical instruments as well. The yangqin hammered dulcimer, the huqin family of bowed string instruments, and the Western piano are examples of this. The guqin is a very quiet instrument, with a range of about four octaves, and its open strings are tuned in the bass register, and its lowest pitch is about two octaves below middle C, or the lowest note on the cello. Sounds are produced by plucking open strings, stopped strings, and harmonics. Stopped sounds are noteworthy for the variety of slides and ornaments used, and the use of glissando — sliding tones — gives it a sound reminiscent of a pizzicato cello or fretless double bass. (continued…)

Recently featured: Cheers – Retreat of glaciers since 1850 – Sverre Sigurdsson

• …that the world’s earliest-known reservoirs were constructed by the people of the ancient city of Dholavira, which is located on an island in Kutch?
• …that, in the history of wound care, the Ancient Greeks were the first to differentiate between acute and chronic wounds, calling them “fresh” and “non-healing”, respectively?
• …that the sepoys lost the Central India Campaign (1858) because most of their officers were elderly men who had attained rank through seniority while seeing little action and receiving no training as leaders?
• …that the Birdsville Races in Queensland, Australia used to have separate races for horses that ate grass and those that ate corn?
• … that the Bogomil bishop Nicetas went to Lombardy in order to throw doubts on the Cathars’s spiritual succession to the Apostles?

• Italy’s Supreme Court confirms Romano Prodi’s narrow win in the disputed general election. His competitor, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, still refuses to concede defeat.
• The Tenth National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam opens in Hanoi amid a major corruption scandal.
• The swelling Elbe and Danube rivers cause severe floods in Central and Southeastern Europe. A state of emergency is declared in Serbia (pictured).
• Chad accuses Sudan of sponsoring the failed coup attempt by the United Front for Democratic Change that has resulted in at least 400 deaths in N’Djamena, and severs diplomatic ties between the two countries.
• Two explosions inside the 17th century mosque Jama Masjid in Delhi, India injure at least thirteen people.

April 20: Festival of Matsu in Southeast Asia (2006), Ridván begins at sunset in Bahá’í Faith.

• 1653 - Oliver Cromwell dissolved the Rump Parliament of the Commonwealth of England.
• 1862 - Louis Pasteur (pictured) and Claude Bernard completed the first test on pasteurization.
• 1914 - A fire and a gun battle between the National Guard and striking coal miners in Colorado led to 17 deaths in the Ludlow massacre.
• 1968 - Pierre Trudeau succeeded Lester B. Pearson as Prime Minister of Canada.
• 1999 - Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered 13 people in the Columbine High School massacre.

Recent days: April 19 – April 18 – April 17

The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25, 1993. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the Canadian House of Commons at that time. It was one of the most eventful elections in Canadian history, with more than half of the electorate switching parties from the 1988 election. The election was called by new Progressive Conservative Party leader Kim Campbell, near the end of her party’s five-year mandate. Despite an unpopular legacy from the Brian Mulroney years, Conservative support had recovered in the lead-up to the election, and was near the rival Liberals when the writs were dropped. However, this momentum did not last, and the Conservatives suffered the worst defeat in their history. The PCs lost more than half their vote from 1988 and were reduced to only two seats. The Liberals, led by Jean Chrétien, won a strong majority in the House and formed the next government of Canada. (continued…)

Recently featured: Fanny Blankers-Koen – OpenBSD – Antarctica

From Wikipedia’s newest articles:

• …that the modern states of Armenia and Azerbaijan occupy those territories that were conquered by Ivan Paskevich from Persia during the Russo-Persian War, 1826-1828?
• …that the Trinity Church is the only permanent building in Antarctica and the most southern church in the world?
• …that the Gujarat Vidyapith was founded in 1920 by Mahatma Gandhi as a means to establish an education system for all Indians free of British rule?
• …that mellah is a walled Jewish quarter of a city in Morocco, an analogue of the European ghetto?
• …that the Kirghiz novel The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years takes place over the course of one day and chronicles efforts of two cosmonauts, one American and one Soviet, to make contact with intelligent life from another planet?
• …that the reforms of the Great Sejm in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, based on the French revolution, were annulled by the military intervention of the Russian Empire?

• Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces that Iran has successfully enriched uranium.
• The cabinet of Israel rules that Ariel Sharon is henceforth to be considered permanently incapacitated, in the wake of his stroke and subsequent coma.
• Over a million protesters across the United States voice their opposition to proposed changes in immigration laws.
• In Italy, Romano Prodi and the centre-left Union coalition claim victory in the 2006 general election. The centre-right House of Freedoms alliance led by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi contests the results.
• The death toll in the ferry disaster in Djibouti reaches 109.
• The restored Gospel of Judas, a Coptic document thought to date from the 2nd century, is unveiled by the National Geographic Society.

April 12: Passover begins at sunset (Judaism, 2006), Yuri’s Night

• 467 - Anthemius became Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
• 1633 - The formal interrogation of Galileo Galilei by the Inquisition began.
• 1961 - Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to enter outer space.
• 1980 - Terry Fox dipped his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean and began running his Marathon of Hope towards the Pacific Ocean to raise funds across Canada for cancer research.
• 1981 - Columbia, the first space shuttle, was launched for its first flight (pictured).

Recent days: April 11 – April 10 – April 9