St Donat's Castle in St Donats, Wales, is a medieval castle in the Vale of Glamorgan, about 16 miles (26 km) west of Cardiff, and about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of Llantwit Major. The site, on cliffs overlooking the Bristol Channel, has been occupied since the Iron Age, and was by tradition the home of the Celtic chieftain Caradog. In the 12th century, the de Haweys began the present castle's development, followed by Peter de Stradling. The Stradlings held the castle for 400 years, until the death of Sir Thomas Stradling in a duel in 1738. By the early 19th century it was only partly habitable. William Randolph Hearst, the American newspaper tycoon, bought it in 1925 and expanded it with elements from other ancient structures, such as the roofs of Bradenstoke Priory in Wiltshire and St Botolph's Church in Lincolnshire. Bernard Shaw described the castle after Hearst's reconstruction as "what God would have built if he had had the money".

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Donat%27s_Castle

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1793:

Marie Antoinette, queen consort of Louis XVI, was guillotined at the Place de la Révolution in Paris at the height of the French Revolution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Antoinette

1875:

Brigham Young University, the United States' largest religious university, was founded in Provo, Utah. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Young_University

1923:

Roy and Walt Disney founded the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in Hollywood that eventually grew to become one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walt_Disney_Company

1978:

Polish Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła became Pope John Paul II, the first non-Italian pope in over 450 years and the first ever from a Slavic country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

aquaponics: (agriculture) A sustainable food production system that combines traditional aquaculture with hydroponics, with effluent from the water in which fish are reared being used as nutrition for plants. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aquaponics

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

One may not give one's soul to a devil of hate — and remain forever scatheless.   --Eugene O'Neill https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eugene_O%27Neill