100px|Warkworth Castle, 2007

Warkworth Castle is a ruined medieval building in the town of the same name in the English county of Northumberland. When the castle was founded is uncertain, but traditionally it has been ascribed to Prince Henry of Scotland in the mid 12th century, although it may have been built by King Henry II of England when he took control of England's northern counties. Warkworth Castle was first documented in a charter of 1157–1164 when Henry II granted it to Roger fitz Richard. The timber castle was considered "feeble", and was left undefended when the Scots invaded in 1173. Roger's son Robert inherited and improved the castle. With the outbreak of the Anglo-Scottish Wars, Edward II invested in castles including Warkworth where he funded the strengthening of the garrison in 1319. Twice in 1327 the Scots besieged the castle without success. In the late 19th century, the dukes refurbished Warkworth Castle and Anthony Salvin was commissioned to restore the keep. Alan Percy, 8th Duke of Northumberland, gave custody of the castle to the Office of Works in 1922. Since 1984 English Heritage has cared for the site which is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. (more...)

Recently featured: Thurisind – American Livestock Breeds Conservancy – James Nesbitt

Archive – By email – More featured articles...

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warkworth_Castle

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1554:

Jesuit missionaries José de Anchieta and Manoel da Nóbrega established a mission at São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga, which grew to become São Paulo, Brazil. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Paulo

1890:

Inspired by Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days, American journalist Nellie Bly completed a circumnavigation of the globe in a then-record 72 days. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_Bly

1971:

Idi Amin Dada seized power in a military coup d'état from President Milton Obote, beginning eight years of military rule in Uganda. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idi_Amin

1993:

Five people were shot outside the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia, resulting in two deaths. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_shootings_at_CIA_Headquarters

2011:

The first wave of the Egyptian revolution began , eventually leading to the removal of Hosni Mubarak after nearly 30 years of rule. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_2011_Egyptian_revolution_under_Hosni_Mubarak%27s_rule

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

quacksalver (n): One falsely claiming to possess medical or other skills, especially one who dispenses potions, ointments, etc. supposedly having curative powers http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quacksalver

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners. Often the attachment is scarcely perceptible; Shakespeare's plays, for instance, seem to hang there complete by themselves. But when the web is pulled askew, hooked up at the edge, torn in the middle, one remembers that these webs are not spun in midair by incorporeal creatures, but are the work of suffering human beings, and are attached to the grossly material things, like health and money and the houses we live in. --Virginia Woolf http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf_