... 2007 (today), by U.N. General Assembly resolution, the world marks International Literacy Day. An estimated 4 billion children, men, and women can read and write, and the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goal #2 is to make that achievement universal. Curl up with a good book -- maybe 1 from IntLawGrrls' Read On! series -- and enjoy.
... 1954, in Manila, diplomats from Australia, Britain, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States concluded both a Pacific Charter and a Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty designed to "maintain peace and security" by means of a Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, known as SEATO, which would remain in existence until 1967.