Wihtred (c. 670 – 725) ruled the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Kent from
about 690 or 691 until his death. A son of Ecgberht I and a brother of
Eadric, he acceded to the throne after a brief conquest of Kent by
Cædwalla of Wessex and subsequent dynastic conflicts in the 680s. His
immediate predecessor was Oswine of Kent, who was probably descended
from Eadbald of Kent, though not through the same line as Wihtred.
Shortly after the start of his reign, Wihtred issued a code of laws that
has been preserved in the Textus Roffensis manuscript (pictured). The
laws pay a great deal of attention to the rights of the Church,
including punishment for irregular marriages and for pagan worship. He
may have married three times: to Cynegyth, Æthelburh and, late in life,
Wærburh. Wihtred's long reign had few incidents recorded in the annals
of the day. He was succeeded in 725 by his sons, Æthelberht II,
Eadberht I, and Alric.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wihtred_of_Kent>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1910:
Freda Du Faur became the first woman to climb Mount Cook, the
highest peak in New Zealand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freda_Du_Faur>
1976:
Jamaican reggae musician Bob Marley survived an assassination
attempt by unknown assailants.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Marley>
1984:
Methyl isocyanate and other toxic chemicals were accidentally
released from the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal,
India, causing the world's worst industrial disaster.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster>
1994:
Sony released the PlayStation, the first "computer
entertainment platform" to ship 100 million units.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_%28console%29>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
archetype:
1. An original model of which all other similar concepts, objects, or
persons are merely copied, derivative, emulated, or patterned; a
prototype.
2. An ideal example of something; a quintessence.
3. (literature) A character, object, or story that is based on a known
character, object, or story.
4. (psychology) According to Swiss psychologist Carl Jung: a universal
pattern of thought, present in an individual's unconscious, inherited
from the past collective experience of humanity.
5. (textual criticism) A protograph (“original manuscript of a text from
which all further copies derive”).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/archetype>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
To see! to see! — this is the craving of the sailor, as of the
rest of blind humanity. To have his path made clear for him is the
aspiration of every human being in our beclouded and tempestuous
existence.
--Joseph Conrad
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Conrad>