The Peasants' Revolt was an uprising in England in 1381, brought on by economic and social upheaval that had been growing since the Black Death thirty years earlier. The rebels, coming from a wide spectrum of rural society, sought a reduction in the high taxes financing the Hundred Years' War, an end to the system of unfree labour known as serfdom and the removal of the King's senior officials and law courts. Inspired by the radical cleric John Ball and led by Wat Tyler, Kentish rebels entered London on 13 June. They destroyed the Temple Inns of Court and set fire to law books. The following day, the fourteen-year-old King Richard acceded to most of the rebels' demands, including the abolition of serfdom; meanwhile, the Lord Chancellor and the Lord High Treasurer were killed in the Tower of London (pictured). On 15 June Richard met Tyler and the rebels at Smithfield, but violence broke out and Tyler was killed by the king's party. A London militia then dispersed the rebel forces and Richard rescinded his previous grants to the rebels. Troubles extended as far as East Anglia, Yorkshire and Somerset, but most of the rebel leaders were tracked down and executed, and at least 1,500 rebels were killed.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peasants%27_Revolt

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1500:

Spanish navigator, explorer, and conquistador Vicente Yáñez Pinzón reached the north coast of what today is Brazil. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicente_Y%C3%A1%C3%B1ez_Pinz%C3%B3n

1788:

Captain Arthur Phillip and the British First Fleet landed at Sydney Cove on the shore of Port Jackson in present-day Sydney, establishing the first permanent European settlement in Australia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Fleet

1907:

The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III, the second oldest military rifle still in official use, was introduced into British military service. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee-Enfield

1945:

Audie Murphy engaged in action that won him a Medal of Honor and made him one of the most famous and decorated American combat soldiers of World War II. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy

2009:

Rioting broke out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that led to deposing of President Marc Ravalomanana. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Malagasy_political_crisis

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

monoousian: (theology) Having one and the same nature or essence, especially with regard to the persons of the Trinity. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/monoousian

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

India was the motherland of our race, and Sanskrit the mother of Europe's languages: she was the mother of our philosophy; mother, through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics; mother, through the Buddha, of the ideals embodied in Christianity; mother, through the village community, of self-government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all.   --Will Durant https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Will_Durant