Alexandra of Denmark (1844–1925) was Queen consort of the United
Kingdom and the British Dominions and Empress of India from 1901 to
1910 as the wife of Edward VII. Her family had been relatively obscure
until her father, the eventual Christian IX of Denmark, was chosen to
succeed Frederick VII to the Danish throne. At the age of sixteen she
was chosen as the future wife of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, the
heir of Queen Victoria. They married eighteen months later. As Princess
of Wales from 1863 to 1901, she won the hearts of the British people
and became immensely popular. Although she was largely excluded from
wielding any political power, she unsuccessfully attempted to sway the
opinion of ministers and her family to favour her relations in Greece
and Denmark. Her public duties were restricted to uncontroversial
involvement in charitable work. On the death of Queen Victoria in 1901,
Albert Edward became King-Emperor as Edward VII, with Alexandra as
Queen-Empress consort. From Edward's death in 1910 until her own death,
she was the Queen Mother, being a queen and the mother of the reigning
monarch, George V. She greatly distrusted her nephew, German Emperor
Wilhelm II and supported her son during World War I.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_of_Denmark>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1381:
The first protests in the Peasants' Revolt began in Blackheath,
England, when Lollard priest John Ball asked a crowd, "When Adam delved
and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?"
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peasants%27_Revolt>
1899:
The New Richmond tornado killed 117 people and injured 125 others in
the northern Great Plains of the United States.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1899_New_Richmond_tornado>
1942:
On her thirteenth birthday, Anne Frank began keeping her diary during
the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Frank>
1954:
Pope Pius XII canonised Dominic Savio , who was 14 years old when he
died, to make him the youngest non-martyr saint in the Roman Catholic
Church.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Savio>
1991:
Members of the Sri Lankan military massacred over 150 Sri Lankan Tamil
civilians in the village Kokkadichcholai near the eastern province town
of Batticaloa.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Kokkadichcholai_massacre>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
riparian (adj):
Pertaining to a riverbank
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/riparian>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Everyone's got the same insecurities as you
Believe me it is true
Do not be afraid
To show people the real
you.
--Justin Heazlewood
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Justin_Heazlewood>
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