Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 November 4

Bonshō are large bells found in Buddhist temples throughout Japan, used to summon the monks to prayer and to demarcate periods of time. Rather than containing a clapper, bonshō (example at Ryōan-ji pictured) are struck from the outside, using either a hand-held mallet or a beam suspended on ropes. The bells are usually made from bronze, typically augmented and ornamented with bosses, raised bands, and inscriptions. The earliest appearance of these bells in Japan dates to around 600 CE, although the general design is of much earlier Chinese origin. Their penetrating and pervasive tone carries over considerable distances, which led to their use as signals, timekeepers, and alarms. The sound is thought to have supernatural properties; it is believed, for example, that it can be heard in the underworld. Their spiritual significance means that they play an important role in Buddhist ceremonies, particularly the New Year and Bon festivals. Throughout Japanese history a number of these bells have become associated with stories and legends, both fictional, such as the Benkei Bell of Mii-dera, and historical, such as the bell of Hōkō-ji. In modern times, bonshō have become symbols of world peace. (Full article...)

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• One World Trade Center (pictured), the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at 1,776 feet (541 m), opens.
• Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo crashes in the Mojave Desert during a test flight, killing the co-pilot.
• Following violent protests, Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaoré resigns.
• A landslide in Badulla, Sri Lanka, kills 16 people and leaves nearly 200 others missing.
• In baseball, the San Francisco Giants defeat the Kansas City Royals to win the World Series.
• An Antares rocket explodes during the launch of the unmanned Cygnus CRS-3 spacecraft to the International Space Station.

Ongoing:

Ebola outbreak –

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Recent deaths:

Acker Bilk – Michael Sata

November 4: Day of Ashura (Islam, 2014); Unity Day in Russia

• 1847 – Scottish physician James Young Simpson discovered the anaesthetic qualities of chloroform.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Nathan Bedford Forrest led a cavalry division in an attack on a Union Army supply base at Johnsonville, Tennessee, capturing 150 prisoners.
• 1921 – The remains of an unknown soldier were buried with an eternal flame at the Altare della Patria (pictured) in Rome.
• 1970 – Salvador Allende took office as President of Chile, the first Marxist to become president of a Latin American country through open elections.
• 1991 – Former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos was granted a presidential pardon by Corazon Aquino and allowed to return from exile.

More anniversaries: November 3 – November 4 – November 5

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