Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. At its height, Plymouth Colony occupied most of the southeastern portion of the modern state of Massachusetts. Founded by a group including separatists who later came to be known as the Pilgrims, Plymouth Colony was, along with Jamestown, Virginia, one of the earliest colonies to be founded by the English in North America and the first sizable permanent English settlement in the New England region. Aided by Squanto, a Native American, the colony was able to establish a treaty with Chief Massasoit which helped to ensure the colony's success. The colony played a central role in King Philip's War, one of the earliest and bloodiest of the Indian Wars. Ultimately, the colony was annexed by the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691. Many of the people and events surrounding Plymouth Colony have become part of American mythology, including the North American tradition known as Thanksgiving and the monument known as Plymouth Rock.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1600:

San Marino, the world's oldest constitutional republic, adopted its written constitution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_San_Marino

1856:

Officials of the Chinese Qing Dynasty arrested and imprisoned twelve people aboard the Hong Kong-registered ship Arrow for suspected piracy and smuggling, sparking the Second Opium War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Opium_War

1871:

The Great Chicago Fire broke out in Chicago, destroying 17,500 buildings and leaving 90,000 people homeless within two days. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1871_Great_Chicago_Fire

1918:

World War I: After his platoon suffered heavy casualties during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in France's Forest of Argonne, United States Sergeant Alvin C. York led the seven remaining men on an attack against a German machine gun nest, killing 28 German soldiers and capturing 132 others. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_C._York

1932:

The Indian Air Force was founded as an auxiliary air force of the Indian Empire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Air_Force

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

newfangled (adj): Contemptibly modern, unfamiliar, or different http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/newfangled

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The year of jubilee has come;

Gather the gifts of Earth with equal hand; Henceforth ye too may share the birthright soil,

The corn, the wine, and all the harvest-home. --Edmund Clarence Stedman http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edmund_Clarence_Stedman