Augustine of Canterbury (c. first third of the 6th century – 604) was
a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the
year 597. He is considered the "Apostle to the English" and a founder of
the English Church. Augustine was the prior of a monastery in Rome when
Pope Gregory the Great chose him in 595 to lead a mission, usually known
as the Gregorian mission, to Britain to Christianize King Æthelberht of
the Kingdom of Kent from his native Anglo-Saxon paganism. Before
reaching Kent the missionaries had considered turning back but Gregory
urged them on and, in 597, Augustine landed on the Isle of Thanet and
proceeded to Æthelberht's main town of Canterbury. King Æthelberht
converted to Christianity and allowed the missionaries to preach freely,
giving them land to found a monastery outside the city walls. Augustine
was consecrated as a bishop and converted many of the king's subjects,
including thousands during a mass baptism on Christmas Day in 597. Roman
bishops were established at London and Rochester in 604, and a school
was founded to train Anglo-Saxon priests and missionaries. The
archbishop probably died in 604 and was soon revered as a saint.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Canterbury>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1666:
A large fire began on London's Pudding Lane and burned the city
for three days, destroying St Paul's Cathedral and the homes of 70,000
of the city's 80,000 inhabitants.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_London>
1901:
U.S. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt first uttered the famous
phrase "speak softly and carry a big stick" (cartoon pictured) at the
Minnesota State Fair, describing his philosophy of negotiating
peacefully while simultaneously threatening to use military force.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Stick_ideology>
1946:
The interim government of India, headed by Jawaharlal Nehru,
formed to assist the transition of India from British rule to
independence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interim_Government_of_India>
1967:
Paddy Roy Bates proclaimed HM Fort Roughs, a former Second
World War Maunsell Sea Fort in the North Sea off the coast of Suffolk,
England, as an independent sovereign state: the Principality of Sealand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand>
1992:
An estimated magnitude 7.2 earthquake off the coast of the
coast of Nicaragua was the first tsunami earthquake to be captured on
modern broadband seismic networks.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Nicaragua_earthquake>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
punctilio:
A fine point in exactness of conduct, ceremony or procedure. Strictness
in observance of formalities.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/punctilio>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
As man is so constituted that it is utterly impossible for him to attain
happiness save by seeking the happiness of others, so does it seem to be
of the nature of things that individuals and classes can obtain their
own just rights only by struggling for the rights of others.
--Henry George
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_George>
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