Æthelberht was the King of Wessex from 860 until his death in 865. He
was the third son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife, Osburh. In 855
Æthelwulf went on pilgrimage to Rome and appointed Æthelberht as king
of the recently conquered territory of Kent. Æthelberht's older
brother, Æthelbald, was named king of Wessex. After the deaths of his
father in 858 and his brother in 860, Æthelberht ruled both Wessex and
Kent without appointing a sub-king, fully uniting the two territories
for the first time. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he reigned
"in good harmony and in great peace". He appears to have been on good
terms with his younger brothers, the future kings Æthelred I and
Alfred the Great. The kingdom came under attack from Viking raids during
his reign, but these were minor compared to the invasions after his
death. Æthelberht died in the autumn of 865 and was buried next to his
brother Æthelbald at Sherborne Abbey in Dorset. He was succeeded by
Æthelred.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelberht,_King_of_Wessex>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1904:
Realizing that the Russification of Lithuania was not working,
the Russian Empire lifted the 40-year-old ban on publications using the
Lithuanian language.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_press_ban>
1932:
An estimated 400 ramblers committed a willful trespass of
Kinder Scout in the Peak District of England to highlight the denial of
access to areas of open country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_trespass_of_Kinder_Scout>
1965:
The Dominican Civil War broke out due to tensions caused by a
military coup of the democratically elected government two years
previous.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Civil_War>
1990:
The Hubble Space Telescope was launched aboard the Space
Shuttle Discovery in mission STS-31.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
loath:
1. Averse, disinclined; reluctant, unwilling.
2. (obsolete) Angry, hostile.
3. (obsolete) Loathsome, unpleasant.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/loath>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I cannot hold with those who wish to put down the insignificant
chatter of the world.
--Anthony Trollope
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anthony_Trollope>