St Helen's Church is the Anglican parish church of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, in
the deanery of North West Leicestershire and the Diocese of Leicester. A
previous church on the site was rebuilt beginning in 1474 by William
Hastings, while he was converting his neighbouring manor house into a
castle. The church was refurbished in about 1670 and again in 1829 to
create more space, and a major rebuild in 1878–80 added two outer
aisles, making the nave wider than it is long. The sandstone church has
a tower at the west end. Other fixtures include ancient stained glass at
the east end, some important funereal monuments, and a font, pulpit and
carved heads by Thomas Earp. The finger pillory is a rare item, once
seen as a humane form of punishment. The church has a long association
with the Hastings family, its patrons for four centuries, and became a
centre for Puritanism under Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon. The
church's architecture has earned it a Grade I listing, denoting a
building of "exceptional interest".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Helen%27s_Church,_Ashby-de-la-Zouch>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
960:
Arab–Byzantine wars: Having been the target of many raids by
the Emirate of Aleppo, Byzantine forces led by Leo Phokas the Younger
ambushed the Hamdanids and annihilated their army.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Andrassos>
1644:
The Shunzhi Emperor, the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, was
enthroned in Beijing after the collapse of the Ming dynasty as the first
Qing emperor to rule over China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shunzhi_Emperor>
1939:
Johann Georg Elser unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate
Adolf Hitler with a time bomb, but killed eight people and injured more
than sixty-two others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Georg_Elser>
1972:
HBO, the oldest and longest continuously operating pay
television service in the United States, began broadcasting to 325
subscribers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HBO>
1987:
A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb exploded during a
Remembrance Sunday ceremony in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, killing
twelve people and injuring sixty-three others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day_bombing>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
Montezuma's revenge:
(humorous) Diarrhea experienced by tourists after drinking water or
eating food in Mexico as a result of a bacteria strain to which native
Mexicans are immune.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Montezuma%27s_revenge>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The fulness of joy is to behold God in all: for by the same
blessed Might, Wisdom, and Love, that He made all-thing, to the same end
our good Lord leadeth it continually, and thereto Himself shall bring
it; and when it is time we shall see it.
--Julian of Norwich
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Julian_of_Norwich>