Sandringham House in Norfolk, England, is the private home of
Elizabeth II. Although architecturally undistinguished (Pevsner
Architectural Guides describing it as "frenetic Jacobean"), the house
has been a favoured residence of the Royal family for over 150 years.
The estate was bought in 1862 for Albert Edward, Prince of Wales.
Between 1870 and 1900 the house was rebuilt and Edward developed the
wider property into one of the best sporting estates in England.
George V inherited it in 1910 and in 1932 made the first ever Christmas
broadcast from the house. George died at Sandringham on 20 January 1936.
The property passed to his son Edward VIII, and at the abdication, it
was purchased by Edward's brother, George VI. As devoted to the house
as his father, he died there on 6 February 1952. On the King's death,
Sandringham was inherited by Elizabeth II. The Queen spends much of the
winter at the house, including the anniversary of her father's death and
of her own accession.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandringham_House>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1870:
Franco-Prussian War: The French Army of the Rhine under
François Bazaine was forced to surrender after a nine-week siege of the
fortifications of Metz.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Metz_%281870%29>
1904:
The first underground segment of the New York City Subway
opened, connecting New York City Hall (station pictured) with Harlem.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Subway>
1944:
World War II: German forces captured Banská Bystrica, the
center of anti-Nazi opposition in Slovakia, bringing the Slovak National
Uprising to an end.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bansk%C3%A1_Bystrica>
1999:
Armed men led by Nairi Hunanyan attacked the National Assembly
of Armenia, killing Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, President of the
National Assembly Karen Demirchyan, and six others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_parliament_shooting>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
get a word in edgewise:
(US, usually in the negative) To break into or participate in a
conversation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/get_a_word_in_edgewise>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The poorest way to face life is to face it with a sneer. There
are many men who feel a kind of twisted pride in cynicism; there are
many who confine themselves to criticism of the way others do what they
themselves dare not even attempt. There is no more unhealthy being, no
man less worthy of respect, than he who either really holds, or feigns
to hold, an attitude of sneering disbelief toward all that is great and
lofty, whether in achievement or in that noble effort which, even if it
fails, comes to second achievement. A cynical habit of thought and
speech, a readiness to criticize work which the critic himself never
tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept
contact with life's realities — all these are marks, not as the
possessor would fain to think, of superiority but of weakness.
--Theodore Roosevelt
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt>