Aldfrith was king of Northumbria from 685 until his death on
14 December 704 or 705. He is described by early writers such as Bede,
Alcuin and Stephen of Ripon as a man of great learning, and some of his
works, as well as letters written to him, survive. His reign was
relatively peaceful, marred only by disputes with Bishop Wilfrid, a
major figure in the early Northumbrian church. Aldfrith was born on an
uncertain date to Oswiu of Northumbria and an Irish princess named Fín.
Oswiu later became King of Northumbria; he died in 670 and was succeeded
by his son Ecgfrith. Aldfrith was educated for a career in the church
and became a scholar. However, in 685, when Ecgfrith was killed at the
battle of Nechtansmere, Aldfrith was recalled to Northumbria, reportedly
from the Hebridean island of Iona, and became king (coin pictured). In
his early-eighth-century account of Aldfrith's reign, Bede states that
he "ably restored the shattered fortunes of the kingdom, though within
smaller boundaries". His reign saw the creation of works of Hiberno-
Saxon art such as the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Codex Amiatinus, and
is often seen as the start of Northumbria's Golden Age.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldfrith_of_Northumbria>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1142:
Despite having saved the Southern Song Dynasty from attempts by
the northern Jin Dynasty to conquer it, Chinese general Yue Fei was
executed by the Song government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_Fei>
1888:
The National Geographic Society, publisher of National
Geographic magazine, was incorporated in Washington, D.C., as "a society
for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Geographic_Society>
1945:
The Soviet Red Army liberated over 7,500 prisoners left behind
by Nazi personnel in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Oświęcim,
Poland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp>
1993:
American-born sumo wrestler Akebono Tarō became the first
foreigner to reach the rank of yokozuna (grand champion).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akebono_Tar%C5%8D>
2003:
The first selections for the National Recording Registry were
announced by the U.S. Library of Congress.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Recording_Registry>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
cop on:
(Ireland, informal, idiomatic) Common sense.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cop_on>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Be sure the safest rule is that we should not dare to live in any scene
in which we dare not die. But, once realise what the true object is in
life — that it is not pleasure, not knowledge, not even fame itself,
'that last infirmity of noble minds' — but that it is the development
of character, the rising to a higher, nobler, purer standard, the
building-up of the perfect Man — and then, so long as we feel that
this is going on, and will (we trust) go on for evermore, death has for
us no terror; it is not a shadow, but a light; not an end, but a
beginning!
--Lewis Carroll
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lewis_Carroll>