100px|Prince Albert
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861) was the husband of
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. He was born in the Saxon duchy of
Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld to a family connected to many of Europe's ruling
monarchs. At the age of 20 he married his first cousin, Queen Victoria,
with whom he had nine children. At first, Albert felt constrained by
his position as consort, which did not confer any power or duties upon
him. Over time he adopted many public causes, such as educational
reform and the abolition of slavery, and took on the responsibilities
of running the Queen's household, estates and office. He was heavily
involved with the organisation of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Albert
aided in the development of Britain's constitutional monarchy by
persuading his wife to show less partisanship in her dealings with
Parliament—although he actively disagreed with the interventionist
foreign policy pursued during Lord Palmerston's tenure as Foreign
Secretary. He died at the early age of 42, plunging the Queen into a
deep mourning which lasted for the rest of her life. Upon Queen
Victoria's death in 1901, their son, Edward VII, succeeded as the first
monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, named after the ducal
house to which Albert belonged. (more...)
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert%2C_Prince_Consort>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1071:
Byzantine–Seljuk wars: Seljuk Turks led by Alp Arslan captured
Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV at the Battle of Manzikert.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Manzikert>
1768:
HMS Endeavour departed Plymouth, England, marking the start of the
first voyage of explorer James Cook.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_voyage_of_James_Cook>
1966:
The South African Defence Force launched an attack against SWAPO
guerrilla fighters at Omugulugwombashe, starting the Namibian War of
Independence.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWAPO>
1970:
Betty Friedan and the National Organization for Women organized the
Women's Strike for Equality in New York City, in which 20,000 women
protested the continuing lack of gender equality.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_Strike_for_Equality>
1977:
The National Assembly of Quebec declared French to be the only official
language of Quebec.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_of_the_French_Language>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
kibitz (v):
1. To chat; to gossip; to make small talk or idle chatter.
2. To give unwanted advice or make unhelpful or idle comments
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kibitz>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Happiness comes out of contentment, and contentment always comes out of
service.
--Harbhajan Singh Yogi
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harbhajan_Singh_Yogi>