The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR) was a short-
lived state in the Caucasus that included most of the territory of
present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and parts of Russia and
Turkey. The region was part of the Russian Empire, but as this dissolved
in 1917 with the February and October Revolutions the Transcaucasian
Commissariat took over in Transcaucasia. In March 1918, as the First
World War continued, the Commissariat initiated unsuccessful peace talks
with the Ottoman Empire, which had invaded the region. Russia withdrew
from the war later that month, conceding parts of the Transcaucasus to
the Ottomans. Faced with an Ottoman offensive, on 22 April 1918 the
Commissariat dissolved itself and established the TDFR. The Ottoman
Empire immediately recognized the TDFR, which directed its legislature,
the Seim, to hold peace talks. These broke down and, fearing fresh
Ottoman attacks, Georgian delegates in the Seim declared independence on
26 May. Armenia and Azerbaijan each declared themselves independent on
28 May, ending the federation.
Read more:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcaucasian_Democratic_Federative_Republic>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1841:
Scottish surgeon James Braid observed a demonstration of animal
magnetism, which inspired him to study the subject he eventually called
hypnotism.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Braid_%28surgeon%29>
1927:
The Holland Tunnel, connecting Manhattan with Jersey City under
the Hudson River, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_Tunnel>
1966:
The Israeli military conducted a large cross-border assault on
the Jordanian-controlled West Bank village of Samu in response to a
Fatah land mine incident.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samu_incident>
2015:
Coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris perpetrated by the
Islamic State killed 130 people and injured 413 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_2015_Paris_attacks>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
insatiate:
(archaic or literary) That is not satiated; insatiable.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/insatiate>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Every good poet includes a critic; the reverse will not hold.
--William Shenstone
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Shenstone>
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