... 1867 (140 years ago today), Edith Hamilton (left) was born in Dresden, Germany, to American parents; she grew up in Indiana. A student of Latin, Greek, French, and German as well as English, Hamilton returned to Germany after receiving a master's degree in the United States. "[S]he and her sister Alice ... were the first women students at the universities of Munich and Leipzi[g]." Among the books she wrote during her long academic career was Mythology (1942), to this day a staple introduction to classical studies. Athens, Greece, welcomed her as an honorary citizen in 1957, 6 years before her death.
... 1949, at Geneva, Conventions on the laws and customs of war were signed. The 4 treaties, the only treaties in the world that enjoy universal ratification, are the:
► Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field;
► Convention (II) for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea;
► Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War; and
► Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.