William III of England (1650–1702) was the Prince of Orange,
Stadtholder of the main provinces of the Dutch Republic, and King of
England, Scotland, and Ireland. Born a member of the House of
Orange-Nassau, William III won the English, Scottish and Irish crowns
following the Glorious Revolution, in which his uncle and
father-in-law, James II, was deposed. In England, Scotland and Ireland,
William ruled jointly with his wife, Mary II, until her death in 1694.
A Protestant, William participated in several wars against the powerful
Catholic King Louis XIV of France in coalition with Protestant and
Catholic powers in Europe. Many Protestants heralded him as a champion
of their faith. Largely due to that reputation, William was able to
take the British crowns where many were fearful of a revival of
Catholicism under James. William's victory over James II at the Battle
of the Boyne in 1690 is commemorated by the Orange Institution in
Northern Ireland to this day. His reign marked the beginning of the
transition from the personal rule of the Stuarts to the more
Parliament-centered rule of the House of Hanover.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_III_of_England>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1817:
Bolívar's War: Colombian seamstress Policarpa Salavarrieta was
executed in Bogotá for working as a spy for the revolutionary forces in
New Granada.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policarpa_Salavarrieta>
1889:
New York World reporter Nellie Bly embarked on her successful attempt
to travel Around the World in Eighty Days, eventually completing her
journey in only 72 days.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_Bly>
1940:
World War II: Coventry Cathedral and much of the city centre of
Coventry, England were destroyed by the German Luftwaffe during the
Coventry Blitz.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry_Blitz>
1990:
Germany and Poland signed the German-Polish Border Treaty, confirming
their border at the Oder-Neisse line, which was originally defined by
the Potsdam Agreement in 1945.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oder-Neisse_line>
2003:
Astronomers Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz
discovered the trans-Neptunian object 90377 Sedna.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/90377_Sedna>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
traipse (v):
To walk about or over (a place)
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/traipse>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
To be in good moral condition requires at least as much training as to
be in good physical condition.
--Jawaharlal Nehru
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehru>