Stephen I (c. 975 – 15 August 1038) was the last Grand Prince of the Hungarians and the first King of Hungary (from 1000 or 1001 until his death). The first member of his family to become a devout Christian, he married Gisela of Bavaria, a scion of the imperial Ottonian dynasty. After succeeding his father in 997, Stephen had to defend the throne, with aid from foreign knights, against his relative Koppány. In a series of wars against semi-independent tribes and chieftains—including the Black Hungarians and his uncle, Gyula the Younger—Stephen unified the Carpathian Basin. He established at least one archbishopric, six bishoprics and three Benedictine monasteries, all independent of the archbishops of the Holy Roman Empire. Hungary enjoyed lasting peace during his reign, and became a preferred route for pilgrims and merchants traveling between Western Europe and the Holy Land or Constantinople. Stephen was canonized by Pope Gregory VII in 1083. In Hungary, his feast day (celebrated on 20 August) is a public holiday commemorating the foundation of the state.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_I_of_Hungary

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1511:

Afonso de Albuquerque captured the city of Malacca, giving Portugal control over the Strait of Malacca, through which all sea-going trade between China and India was concentrated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Malacca_%281511%29

1907:

Raphael Morgan was ordained as what is believed to be the first Black Orthodox clergyman in America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael_Morgan

1948:

The Republic of Korea was established with Syngman Rhee as its first president. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_South_Korea

1998:

A car bomb attack carried out by the Real Irish Republican Army killed 29 people and injured approximately 220 others in Omagh, Northern Ireland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omagh_bombing

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

cooling glasses: (India) Sunglasses. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cooling_glasses

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The highest spirituality indeed moves in a free and wide air far above that lower stage of seeking which is governed by religious form and dogma; it does not easily bear their limitations and, even when it admits, it transcends them; it lives in an experience which to the formal religious mind is unintelligible.   --Sri Aurobindo https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sri_Aurobindo