Æthelbald was the King of Mercia in what is now the English Midlands
from 716 until he was killed in 757. He came to the throne after the
death of his cousin, King Ceolred, who had driven him into exile. During
his long reign, Mercia became the dominant kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons,
and recovered the position of pre-eminence it had enjoyed during the
strong reigns of Mercian kings Penda and Wulfhere between about 628 and
675. When Æthelbald came to the throne, both Wessex and Kent were ruled
by stronger kings, but within fifteen years Æthelbald was ruling all
England south of the river Humber, according to the contemporary
chronicler Bede. Æthelbald was killed in 757 by his bodyguards. He was
succeeded briefly by Beornred, of whom little is known. Within a year,
Offa, the grandson of Æthelbald's cousin Eanwulf, had seized the
throne, possibly after a brief civil war. Under Offa, Mercia entered its
most prosperous and influential period.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelbald_of_Mercia>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1790:
Peking opera (modern performer pictured) was born when the Four
Great Anhui Troupes introduced Anhui opera to Beijing in honor of the
Qianlong Emperor's eightieth birthday.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_opera>
1944:
Second World War: British troops began their withdrawal from
the Battle of Arnhem in the Netherlands, ending the Allies' Operation
Market Garden in defeat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arnhem>
1977:
About 4,200 people took part in the first modern Chicago
Marathon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Marathon>
1990:
The Ram Rath Yatra, a political-religious march organised to
erect a temple to the Hindu deity Rama on the site of the Babri Masjid,
began in the Indian state of Gujarat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_Rath_Yatra>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ruse:
1. (countable, often hunting) A turning or doubling back, especially of
animals to get out of the way of hunting dogs.
2. (countable, by extension) An action intended to deceive; a trick.
3. (uncountable) Cunning, guile, trickery.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ruse>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The trouble begins when we start to be so impressed by the
strategies of our systematized thought that we forget that it does
relate to an obverse, that it is hewn from negation, that it is but very
small security against the void of negation which surrounds it. And when
that happens, when we forget these things, all sorts of mechanical
failures begin to disrupt the function of human personality.
--Glenn Gould
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Glenn_Gould>