William III of England (1650–1702) was the Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of the main provinces of the Dutch Republic, and King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Born a member of the House of Orange-Nassau, William III won the English, Scottish and Irish crowns following the Glorious Revolution, in which his uncle and father-in-law, James II, was deposed. In England, Scotland and Ireland, William ruled jointly with his wife, Mary II, until her death in 1694. A Protestant, William participated in several wars against the powerful Catholic King Louis XIV of France in coalition with Protestant and Catholic powers in Europe. Many Protestants heralded him as a champion of their faith. Largely due to that reputation, William was able to take the British crowns where many were fearful of a revival of Catholicism under James. William's victory over James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 is commemorated by the Orange Institution in Northern Ireland to this day. His reign marked the beginning of the transition from the personal rule of the Stuarts to the more Parliament-centered rule of the House of Hanover.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1817:

Bolívar's War: Colombian seamstress Policarpa Salavarrieta was executed in Bogotá for working as a spy for the revolutionary forces in New Granada. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policarpa_Salavarrieta

1889:

New York World reporter Nellie Bly embarked on her successful attempt to travel Around the World in Eighty Days, eventually completing her journey in only 72 days. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_Bly

1940:

World War II: Coventry Cathedral and much of the city centre of Coventry, England were destroyed by the German Luftwaffe during the Coventry Blitz. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry_Blitz

1990:

Germany and Poland signed the German-Polish Border Treaty, confirming their border at the Oder-Neisse line, which was originally defined by the Potsdam Agreement in 1945. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oder-Neisse_line

2003:

Astronomers Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz discovered the trans-Neptunian object 90377 Sedna. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/90377_Sedna

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

traipse (v): To walk about or over (a place) http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/traipse

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

To be in good moral condition requires at least as much training as to be in good physical condition. --Jawaharlal Nehru http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehru