Siward was an earl of 11th-century northern England. The Old Norse nickname Digri and its Latin translation Grossus ("the stout") are given to him by near-contemporary texts. Siward was probably of Scandinavian origin, perhaps a relative of Earl Ulf, and emerged as a powerful regional strongman in England during the reign of Cnut the Great (1016–1035). Cnut was a Scandinavian ruler who conquered England in the 1010s, and Siward was one of the many Scandinavians who came to England in the aftermath of that conquest. Siward rose to become a sub- ruler of most of northern England. In the early 1050s he turned against the Scottish ruler Mac Bethad mac Findlaích. Despite the death of his son Osbjorn, Siward defeated Mac Bethad in battle in 1054. More than half a millennium later the Scotland adventure earned him a place in William Shakespeare's Macbeth. St Olave's church in York and nearby Heslington Hill are associated with Siward.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siward,_Earl_of_Northumbria

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

328:

Athanasius became the Patriarch of Alexandria. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athanasius_of_Alexandria

1877:

Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister Mihail Kogălniceanu made a speech in Parliament that declared Romania was discarding Ottoman suzerainty. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihail_Kog%C4%83lniceanu

1901:

The first Parliament of Australia opened in the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, exactly 26 years before it moved to Canberra's Provisional Parliament House, and exactly 87 years before it moved into the Parliament House in Canberra. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_Australia

1918:

First World War: Germany repelled Britain's second attempt to blockade the Belgian port of Ostend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Ostend_Raid

2012:

Pilots of a Sukhoi Superjet 100 ignored alerts from the terrain warning system and crashed into Mount Salak in Indonesia, resulting in the deaths of all 45 people on board. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Mount_Salak_Sukhoi_Superjet_crash

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

acrimonious: 1. (archaic) Harsh and sharp, or bitter and not to the taste; acrid, pungent. 2. (figuratively) Angry, acid, and sharp in delivering argumentative replies: bitter, mean-spirited, sharp in language or tone. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/acrimonious

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Nationalism is always an effort in a direction opposite to that of the principle which creates nations. The former is exclusive in tendency, the latter inclusive. In periods of consolidation, nationalism has a positive value, and is a lofty standard. But in Europe everything is more than consolidated, and nationalism is nothing but a mania, a pretext to escape from the necessity of inventing something new, some great enterprise.   --José Ortega y Gasset https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Ortega_y_Gasset