The history of Lithuania between 1219 and 1295 covers the establishment and early history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the first Lithuanian state. In 1219, twenty-one Lithuanian dukes signed a peace treaty with Galicia–Volhynia – the first proof that the Baltic tribes were uniting. Despite continuous warfare with two Christian orders, the Livonian Order and the Teutonic Knights, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was established and gained some control over neighbouring lands that were vulnerable after the collapse of Kievan Rus'. Mindaugas(modern commemorative coin pictured) was crowned as King of Lithuania in 1253 and is traditionally regarded as the founder of the state. However, in 1261, he broke the peace with the Livonian Order, and his assassination in 1263 by Treniota ended the early Christian kingdom in Lithuania. It was a pagan empire for the next 120 years, fighting against the Teutonic and Livonian Orders during the Northern Crusades. After Mindaugas' death, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania entered times of relative instability but did not disintegrate. Vytenis assumed power in 1295, and during the next twenty years laid solid foundations for the Duchy to expand and grow. (Full article...)
In central Russia, shock waves from a meteor(pictured)—the largest recorded object encountered by Earth since 1908—injure more than 1,000 people, mainly due to widespread broken glass.
A young girl standing amid the freshly made graves of 70 children in Dadaab, Kenya. Many of them died of malnutrition during an extensive drought in East Africa, which began in July 2011. Many people died on their journeys to the overcrowded refugee camps; the camp in Dadaab, although built for 90,000 people, held at least 440,000 at its peak.
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