Alexandra of Denmark (1844–1925) was Queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Empress of India from 1901 to 1910 as the wife of Edward VII. Her family had been relatively obscure until her father, the eventual Christian IX of Denmark, was chosen to succeed Frederick VII to the Danish throne. At the age of sixteen she was chosen as the future wife of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, the heir of Queen Victoria. They married eighteen months later. As Princess of Wales from 1863 to 1901, she won the hearts of the British people and became immensely popular. Although she was largely excluded from wielding any political power, she unsuccessfully attempted to sway the opinion of ministers and her family to favour her relations in Greece and Denmark. Her public duties were restricted to uncontroversial involvement in charitable work. On the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, Albert Edward became King-Emperor as Edward VII, with Alexandra as Queen-Empress consort. From Edward's death in 1910 until her own death, she was the Queen Mother, being a queen and the mother of the reigning monarch, George V. She greatly distrusted her nephew, German Emperor Wilhelm II and supported her son during World War I.
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1381:
The first protests in the Peasants' Revolt began in Blackheath, England, when Lollard priest John Ball asked a crowd, "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peasants%27_Revolt
1899:
The New Richmond tornado killed 117 people and injured 125 others in the northern Great Plains of the United States. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1899_New_Richmond_tornado
1942:
On her thirteenth birthday, Anne Frank began keeping her diary during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Frank
1954:
Pope Pius XII canonised Dominic Savio , who was 14 years old when he died, to make him the youngest non-martyr saint in the Roman Catholic Church. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Savio
1991:
Members of the Sri Lankan military massacred over 150 Sri Lankan Tamil civilians in the village Kokkadichcholai near the eastern province town of Batticaloa. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Kokkadichcholai_massacre
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
riparian (adj): Pertaining to a riverbank http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/riparian
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Everyone's got the same insecurities as you
Believe me it is true Do not be afraid To show people the real you. --Justin Heazlewood http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Justin_Heazlewood