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Today's featured article The exact nature of Sino-Tibetan relations during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) of China is unclear. Analysis of the relationship is further complicated by modern political conflicts and the application of Westphalian sovereignty to a time when the concept did not exist. Some Mainland Chinese scholars assert that the Ming Dynasty had unquestioned sovereignty over Tibet, citing the Ming court's issuing of various titles to Tibetan leaders, Tibetans' full acceptance of these titles, and a renewal process for successors of these titles that involved traveling to the Ming capital. Scholars within China also argue that Tibet has been an integral part of China since the 13th century, thus a part of the Ming Empire. But most scholars outside China say that the relationship was one of suzerainty, that Ming titles were only nominal, that Tibet remained an independent region outside Ming control, and that it simply paid tribute until the reign of Jiajing (1521–1566), who ceased relations with Tibet. (more...) Recently featured: Fertilisation of Orchids – Appaloosa – Hurricane Guillermo Did you know... From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that the bells in Vancouver's Holy Rosary Cathedral (pictured) were originally cast in Savoy, France? ... that past human rights issues in Guinea include the black diet, a total lack of food and water which killed prisoners at Camp Boiro? ... that Baseball Hall of Fame manager Connie Mack said that selling Herb Pennock was his greatest mistake? ... that the edible African species Amanita zambiana is sometimes called the "Christmas mushroom" because it is most abundant in December and early January? ... that racehorses trained by George Dawson earned £77,914 of prize money in 1888, setting a record that stood for 43 years? ... that despite such actors as Christopher Plummer and Orson Welles, New York Magazine described Oedipus the King as an "almost comical" film adaption of the dramatic play by Sophocles?

In the news Abu Hamza al-Masri (pictured in the 1980s) and four other terror suspects are extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States. In the ongoing South African miner's strike, Anglo American Platinum fires 12,000 workers. Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers becomes the first batter to win Major League Baseball's Triple Crown since 1967. The opposition Georgian Dream coalition wins a majority of seats in the Georgian parliamentary election. British historian Eric Hobsbawm dies at the age of 95. A ferry collision off the coast of Hong Kong kills 39 people. On this day... October 7: Feast Day of St. Osyth 1777 – American Revolutionary War: The British suffered a decisive defeat at the Second Battle of Saratoga, generally regarded as a turning point in the war. 1849 – American writer Edgar Allan Poe died under mysterious circumstances at Washington Medical College four days after being found on the streets of Baltimore, Maryland, in a delirious and incoherent state. 1944 – The Holocaust: When members of the Sonderkommando—Jewish work units in Auschwitz—learned that they were due to be murdered, they staged a revolt, managing to kill more than 70 SS men before being massacred themselves. 1976 – Hua Guofeng (pictured) succeeded Mao Zedong as Chairman of the Communist Party of China. 2006 – Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya was assassinated in the elevator of her apartment block in central Moscow. More anniversaries: October 6 – October 7 – October 8 It is now October 7, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture Utopia, Limited, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was the second-to-last of Gilbert and Sullivan's fourteen collaborations, premiering on 7 October 1893 for a run of 245 performances. Although it did not achieve the success of most of their earlier productions, it was the longest-running production to premiere at the Savoy Theatre in the 1890s. The opera satirises incorporation laws, by imagining the absurd convergence of natural persons with legal commercial entities, the perceived unfairness of bankruptcy laws, and other conceits and institutions of the late 19th-century British Empire. Image: Strobridge Lithographing Co.; Restoration: Adam Cuerden Recently featured: Hooded Plover – Donald Pleasence – Charlton Heston

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