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The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR) was a short-lived state in the Caucasus that included most of the territory of present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and parts of Russia and Turkey. The region was part of the Russian Empire, but as this dissolved in 1917 with the February and October Revolutions the Transcaucasian Commissariat took over in Transcaucasia. In March 1918, as the First World War continued, the Commissariat initiated unsuccessful peace talks with the Ottoman Empire, which had invaded the region. Russia withdrew from the war later that month, conceding parts of the Transcaucasus to the Ottomans. Faced with an Ottoman offensive, on 22 April 1918 the Commissariat dissolved itself and established the TDFR. The Ottoman Empire immediately recognized the TDFR, which directed its legislature, the Seim, to hold peace talks. These broke down and, fearing fresh Ottoman attacks, Georgian delegates in the Seim declared independence on 26 May. Armenia and Azerbaijan each declared themselves independent on 28 May, ending the federation. (Full article...)

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In the news

F. W. de Klerk in 1990

Former South African president F. W. de Klerk (pictured), who negotiated the end of apartheid with Nelson Mandela, dies at the age of 85.
SpaceX launches four astronauts on the Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station.
In stock car racing, Kyle Larson wins the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Kenyans Albert Korir and Peres Jepchirchir win the New York City Marathon men's and women's races.

On this day

November 13: Feast day of Saint John Chrysostom (Eastern Christianity)

James Braid

1642 – First English Civil War: Royalist forces engaged the much larger Parliamentarian army at the Battle of Turnham Green near Turnham Green, Middlesex.
1841 – Scottish surgeon James Braid (pictured) observed a demonstration of animal magnetism, which inspired him to study the subject he eventually called hypnotism.
1927 – The Holland Tunnel, connecting Manhattan with Jersey City under the Hudson River, opened.
1966 – The Israeli military conducted a large cross-border assault on the Jordanian-controlled West Bank village of Samu in response to a Fatah land mine incident.
2015 – Coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris perpetrated by the Islamic State killed 130 people and injured 413 others.

Dorothea Erxleben (b. 1715)
Moshe Pesach (d. 1955)
Paul-Émile Léger (d. 1991)

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Today's featured picture

John A. Dahlgren (November 13, 1809 – July 12, 1870) was a United States Navy officer who founded the Navy's Ordnance Department and launched major advances in gunnery. He introduced a cast-iron muzzle-loading cannon with vastly increased range and accuracy, known as the Dahlgren gun, which became the Navy's standard armament. During the American Civil War, he was made the commander of the Washington Navy Yard. He also served at sea, being put in command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

Photograph credit: Mathew Brady; restored by Jebulon

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