A formal engagement to be married.
Betrothal
Fact of the Day
So rebellious were moustaches in 1850s Naples that the carabinieri could drag men into barbers and have them forcibly shaved.
Quote of the Day
"Truly, when the day of judgement comes, it will not be a question of what we have read, but what we have done.
"
~ Thomas à Kempis, 15th century
On This Day
1830 The Manchester to Liverpool train line opened, and caused the first train death (of MP William Huskisson).
1859 The great engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel died.
1916 Tanks were first used on the Somme. They weren't ready for use in combat and many broke down.
1935 The Nuremberg race laws were introduced, stripping German Jews of their citizenship and forbidding them to marry Aryans.
1940 Hitler indefinitely postponed his invasion of Britain following a massive defeat of the Luftwaffe.
2008 The financial services firm Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, the biggest such filing in US history, causing the Dow Jones to drop more than 500 points in a day.