A person seized or held as security for the fulfilment of a condition
Hostage
Fact of the Day
In 1794, women in a village on the Loire responded to a revolutionary talk on divinity by giving the speaker a mass moonie.
Quote of the Day
"Nothing can be said in his vindication, but that his abolishing Religious Houses and leaving them to the ruinous depredations of time has been of infinite use to the landscape of England in general.
"
~ Jane Austen on Henry VIII
On This Day
1787 The 'First Fleet' of 11 ships carrying convicts to Australia left England.
1888 Slavery was abolished in Brazil.