Wulfhere (died 675) was King of Mercia from the end of the 650s until
675. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not
known when or how he was converted. His accession marked the end of
Oswiu of Northumbria's overlordship of southern England, and Wulfhere
extended his influence over much of that region. His campaigns against
the West Saxons led to Mercian supremacy over much of the Thames
valley. He conquered the Isle of Wight and the Meon valley and gave
them to King Æthelwealh of the South Saxons. He married Eormenhild, the
daughter of King Eorcenberht of Kent. He was effectively the overlord
of Britain south of the Humber from the early 660s, although not
overlord of Northumbria as his father had been. In 674, he challenged
Oswiu's son Ecgfrith of Northumbria, but was defeated. He died,
probably of disease, in 675.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wulfhere>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1719:
Robinson Crusoe, a novel by English author Daniel Defoe about a
castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near
Venezuela, was first published.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson_Crusoe>
1898:
Spanish–American War: The United States retroactively declared war on
Spain, stating that a state of war between the two countries had
already existed for the past couple of days.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish%E2%80%93American_War>
1915:
World War I: Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed at Anzac Cove
while British and French troops landed at Cape Helles to begin the
Allied invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_Campaign>
1953:
Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids by molecular biologists James
Watson and Francis Crick was first published in the scientific journal
Nature, describing the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_Structure_of_Nucleic_Acids%3A_A_Structure_for_Deoxyribose_Nucleic_Acid>
1974:
The song "Grândola, Vila Morena" by Zeca Afonso was broadcast on radio,
signalling the start of the Carnation Revolution, a bloodless coup
against the Estado Novo regime in Portugal.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnation_Revolution>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
beleaguer (v):
1. To besiege; to surround with troops.
2. To vex, harass, or beset
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/beleaguer>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I will either find a way, or make one.
--Hannibal
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hannibal>
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