John (1166–1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death. The
youngest of the four surviving sons of Henry II and Eleanor of
Aquitaine, he became Henry's favourite after a revolt by his brothers
Henry, Richard, and Geoffrey. Despite rebelling against King Richard,
who was away on the Third Crusade, he became king after Richard's death.
War with France broke out in 1202; John achieved early victories, but
shortages of resources led to the loss of the Duchy of Normandy and most
other French lands. His judicial reforms had a lasting effect on English
law and provided him with revenue from fines and court fees. An argument
with Pope Innocent III led to John's excommunication from 1209 to 1213.
John faced a rebellion by many of his barons, and although they agreed
to the Magna Carta peace accord in 1215, neither side complied with it,
and civil war broke out shortly afterwards. John died of dysentery while
on campaign in late 1216.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John,_King_of_England>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1752:
The Pennsylvania Gazette published a statement by Benjamin
Franklin describing a kite experiment (depicted) to determine the
electrical nature of lightning.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kite_experiment>
1943:
World War II: Allied aircraft sank the German cargo ship
Sinfra, killing more than 2,000 people, mostly Italian POWs.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Sinfra>
1955:
At a meeting of its general assembly, the European Broadcasting
Union approved the staging of the first Eurovision Song Contest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Eurovision_Song_Contest>
1987:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 22.6 percent on Black
Monday, the largest one-day percentage decline in the stock market
index's history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Monday_%281987%29>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
stink to high heaven:
1. To have a very strong and unpleasant smell.
2. (figuratively) Of a person or situation: to be highly ethically
dubious; also, of a person: to be very incompetent.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stink_to_high_heaven>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Success ultimately rests on small things, lots of small things.
Leaders have to have a feel for small things — a feel for what is
going in in the depths of an organization where small things reside. The
more senior you become, the more you are isolated by pomp and staff, and
the harder and more necessary it becomes to know what is going on six
floors down. One way is to leave the top floor and its grand
accoutrements and get down into the bowels for real. Don't tell anyone
you are coming.
--Colin Powell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Colin_Powell>
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