Jogaila was a Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland. He ruled in Lithuania from 1377, at first with his uncle, Kęstutis. In 1386, he converted to Christianity, was baptized as Władysław, married the eleven-year-old Queen Jadwiga of Poland, and was crowned Polish king as Władysław Jagiełło. His reign in Poland lasted a further forty-eight years and laid the foundation for the centuries long Polish-Lithuanian union. He gave his name to the Jagiellon branch of the Gediminids dynasty which ruled both states until 1572, and became one of the most influential dynasties in medieval Europe. Jogaila was the last pagan ruler of medieval Lithuania. He held the title Didysis Kunigaikštis. As King of Poland, he pursued a policy of close alliances with Lithuania against the Teutonic Order. The allied victory at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, followed by the First Peace of Toruń, secured the Polish and Lithuanian borders and marked the emergence of the Polish-Lithuanian alliance as a major European force. The reign of Władysław II Jagiełło extended Polish frontiers and is often considered the beginning of Poland's "Golden Age".

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1786: Peter Leopold Joseph, Grand Duke of Tuscany, promulgated a penal reform that made his country the first sovereign state to abolish the death penalty. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor)

1853: Russian battleships led by Pavel Nakhimov destroyed an Ottoman fleet of frigates at the Battle of Sinop in Sinop, Turkey, precipitating the Crimean War. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_War)

1936: The Crystal Palace, built for the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, was destroyed by fire. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crystal_Palace)

1939: The Winter War broke out as the Soviet Red Army invaded Finland and quickly advanced to the Mannerheim Line, an action judged as illegal by the League of Nations. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War)

2005: John Sentamu was enthroned as Archbishop of York, becoming the first member of an ethnic minority to serve as an archbishop in the Church of England. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sentamu)

_____________________ Wiktionary's Word of the day:

insinuate: Make a way for or introduce something by subtle, crafty or artful means. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/insinuate)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

The truth is, when all is said and done, one does not teach a subject, one teaches a student how to learn it. -- Jacques Barzun (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jacques_Barzun)