The doges of Venice were elected dukes who ruled the city-state of Venice and controlled much of the eastern Mediterranean coast.
Their reigns tended to be short, often 1 to 10 years.
Venice was an independent city-state from 697 until 1797, when Napoleon conquered it.
Haile Selassie (1891-1975), emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, was known as the Conquering Lion. His tenacity against his enemies earned him his nickname, a variation of one of his official titles, the Lion of Judah.
Shigechiyo Izumi of Japan was 120 years old when he died on February 21, 1986, making him the oldest person in the world. He was born on June 29, 1865. Unproven claims have been made for other people, but Izumi is the oldest for whom there is verification.
The Taj Mahal was built between 1632 and 1650 in Agra, India, by Shah Jahan as a tomb for his wife. The marble structure is considered a superb representation of the Mogul style.
There has been only one female winner of the U.S. Medal of Honor. It was Mary Walker who served as a surgeon in the 52nd Ohio Regiment during the Civil War. She was awarded the medal in 1865 by President Andrew Johnson.
Constantine XI, who ruled from 1448 to 1453, was the last Byzantine emperor. He died fighting the Turks in the battle for Constantinople, which ended in the fall of the nearly 1,100-year-old Byzantine Empire.
The shoguns were the de facto rulers of Japan from 1192 to 1867. Originally military commanders, they exercised real power, while the emperor retained formal sovereignty. The name is an abbreviation of seii-tai-shogun, meaning “barbarian-quelling generalissimo.”