Anne of Denmark (1574–1619) was queen consort of Scotland, England, and Ireland as the wife of King James VI and I. The second daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark, Anne married James in 1589 at the age of fourteen and bore him three children who survived infancy, including the future Charles I. She demonstrated an independent streak and a willingness to use factional Scottish politics in her conflicts with James over the custody of Prince Henry and his treatment of her friend Beatrix Ruthven. Anne appears to have loved James at first, but the couple gradually drifted and eventually lived apart, though mutual respect and a degree of affection survived. In England, Anne shifted her energies from factional politics to patronage of the arts and constructed a magnificent court of her own, hosting one of the richest cultural salons in Europe. After 1612, she suffered sustained bouts of ill health and gradually withdrew from the centre of court life. Though she was reported to have died a Protestant, evidence suggests that she may have converted to Catholicism at some stage in her life. Historians have traditionally dismissed Anne as a lightweight queen, frivolous and self-indulgent. However, recent reappraisals acknowledge Anne's assertive independence and, in particular, her dynamic significance as a patron of the arts during the Jacobean age.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Denmark

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1608:

French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City, considered to be the first European-built city in non-Spanish North America. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_de_Champlain

1778:

American Revolutionary War: Loyalists and Iroquois killed or tortured over 300 Patriots at the Battle of Wyoming in Pennsylvania. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wyoming

1844:

The last known pair of Great Auks (illustration by John Gerrard Keulemans shown), the only species in the genus Pinguinus, were killed in Eldey off the coast of Iceland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Auk

1863:

Pickett's Charge, a disastrous Confederate infantry assault against Union Army positions, occurred during the final and bloodiest day of fighting in the Battle of Gettysburg, marking a turning point in the American Civil War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickett%27s_Charge

1988:

United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

excoriate (v): 1. To wear off the skin of; to chafe or flay.

2. To strongly denounce or censure http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/excoriate

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old. --Franz Kafka http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka