Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 December 6

The law school of Beirut was a center for the study of Roman law in classical antiquity located in Beirut. It flourished under the patronage of the Roman emperors and functioned as the Roman Empire's preeminent center of jurisprudence until its destruction in 551 CE. The earliest written mention of the school dates to 239 CE, when its reputation had already been established. The school attracted young, affluent Roman citizens, and its professors made major contributions to the Codex of Justinian. The school achieved such wide recognition throughout the Empire that Beirut was known as the "Mother of Laws". Beirut was one of the few schools allowed to continue teaching jurisprudence when Byzantine emperor Justinian I (pictured) shut down other provincial law schools. The school's facilities were destroyed in the aftermath of a massive earthquake that hit the Phoenician coastline. It was moved to Sidon but did not survive the Arab conquest of 635 CE. Ancient texts attest that the school was located next to the ancient Anastasis church, vestiges of which lie beneath the Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Beirut's historic center. (Full article...)

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• Former President of South Africa and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela (pictured) dies at the age of 95.
• The United Nations Security Council passes resolution 2127, creating MISCA in response to civil conflict in the Central African Republic.
• China's first lunar rover mission, Chang'e 3, launches successfully.
• Clashes between anti-government protesters and government supporters leave four people dead and fifty-seven injured in Bangkok.
• Demonstrations and civil unrest continue in Ukraine following the suspension of a tentative European Union Association Agreement.
• The Rugby League World Cup concludes with Australia defeating New Zealand in the final.

Recent deaths: Paul Walker – Tabu Ley Rochereau

December 6: Independence Day in Finland (1917)

• 1060 – Béla I the Champion was crowned king of Hungary.
• 1921 – The Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed and then came into force exactly one year later, establishing the Irish Free State, the first independent Irish state to be recognised by the British government.
• 1953 – Vladimir Nabokov completed his controversial novel Lolita, five years after starting it.
• 1988 – The Australian Capital Territory (flag pictured) was granted self-government.
• 2005 – Members of the People's Armed Police shot and killed several people in Dongzhou, Guangdong, China, who were protesting government plans to build a new power plant.

More anniversaries: December 5 – December 6 – December 7

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Wulfenite is a lead molybdate mineral with the formula PbMoO₄. It can be most often found as thin tabular crystals with a bright orange-red to yellow-orange color, sometimes brown, although the color can be highly variable. This specimen was collected in Mexico.

Photo: Didier Descouens