Welcome to Conversation on Thursday, January 29

Today is

NATIONAL PUZZLE DAY

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In  661, the Rashidun Caliphate, then the largest empire in history, ended with the death of its leader, Ali. Succeeded by the Umayyad Caliphate.

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Today’s art offering is from American artist Jasper Johns whose most notable success came from a dream he had about painting the American Flag.

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For today’s trivia, “Well, Prince, so Genoa and Lucca are now just family estates of the Buonapartes,” is the first line in what famous novel by whom?
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