Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians (c. 870 – 918), ruled Mercia in the
English Midlands from 911 until her death. The oldest daughter of King
Alfred the Great of Wessex, she married Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians,
who ruled western Mercia when the eastern part was occupied by the
Vikings. After her husband's death, she ruled Mercia and played a
leading role in recovering southern England from the Vikings in
cooperation with her brother, King Edward the Elder. She fortified many
towns, sent an army to capture Derby, and secured the surrender of
Leicester without a fight. The Viking leaders of York offered her their
loyalty, but she died before she could take up the offer. Her daughter
Ælfwynn briefly ruled Mercia, but was seized by Edward, who took her
into Wessex and brought Mercia under his direct rule. Historians
disagree whether Mercia was an independent kingdom under Æthelred and
Æthelflæd, but they agree that Æthelflæd played an important part in
ending Viking rule in England. As a rare English warrior queen, and a
successful one, she has captivated Medieval and modern writers.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelfl%C3%A6d>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1316:
The forces of the infante Ferdinand of Majorca fought against
those loyal to Princess Matilda of Hainaut in the Battle of Picotin on
the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Picotin>
1876:
The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, named
after philanthropist Johns Hopkins, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johns_Hopkins_University>
1921:
After White Russian forces under Baron Roman von Ungern-
Sternberg drove the Chinese out of Mongolia, the Bogd Khan was
reinstalled as emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_von_Ungern-Sternberg>
1957:
The President of South Vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem survived a Viet
Cong assassination attempt by a gunman in Buôn Ma Thuột.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngo_Dinh_Diem>
2002:
Jonas Savimbi, leader of the Angolan anti-Communist rebel and
political party UNITA, was killed in a battle with Angolan government
troops.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Savimbi>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
avoid like the plague:
(simile, idiomatic) To evade or shun, if at all possible.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/avoid_like_the_plague>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain
(what I consider the most enviable of all titles) the character of an
honest man.
--George Washington
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Washington>