... 2007 (today), the world marks this International Day of Peace. Established by the U.N. General Assembly in 1981, the day's set aside for events like these and these. Do feel free to improvise your own peacemaking.... 1898, the Empress Dowager Cixi (left; the name's a variation on Tzu-Hsi) -- among "the most formidable women in modern history," "famed for her beauty and charm," and "power hungry, ruthless and profoundly skilled in court politics" -- detained and seized power from the Chinese emperor, thus ending a period of reform known as the Hundred Days' Reform.
