Teresa Cristina (1822–1889) was the Empress consort of Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil, who reigned from 1831 to 1889. Born a Princess of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, she was the daughter of King Don Francesco I of the Italian branch of the House of Bourbon and his wife Maria Isabel. The Princess was married by proxy to Pedro II in 1843. Despite a cold beginning, the couple's relationship improved as time passed, due primarily to Teresa Cristina's patience, kindness, generosity and simplicity. These traits also helped her win the hearts of the Brazilian people, and her distance from political controversies shielded her from criticism. Of her four children, two boys died in infancy and a daughter of typhoid fever at the early age of 24. She, along with the remaining members of the Imperial Family, was sent into exile after a coup d'état staged by a clique of army officers in 1889. Being cast from her beloved adopted land had a devastating effect on Teresa Cristina's spirit and health. Grieving and ill, she died of respiratory failure little more than a month after the monarchy's collapse. She was greatly loved by her subjects, both during her lifetime and afterwards. Teresa Cristina is well regarded by historians not only for her character and irreproachable behavior, but also for her sponsorship of Brazilian culture.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1430:

Hundred Years' War: Joan of Arc was captured at the Siege of Compiègne. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Compi%C3%A8gne

1706:

War of the Spanish Succession: Led by the Duke of Marlborough, the allied forces of England, the Dutch Republic, and Denmark defeated the Franco-Bavarian army in Ramillies, present-day Belgium. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ramillies

1873:

The North West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, was established to bring law and order to and assert Canadian sovereignty over the Northwest Territories. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Canadian_Mounted_Police

1895:

Representatives of the Astor Library and Lenox Library agreed to merge and form the New York Public Library (pictured under construction in 1908), now the second-largest public library in the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Public_Library

1951:

Delegates of the 14th Dalai Lama and the government of the newly established People's Republic of China signed the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, affirming Chinese sovereignty over Tibet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeen_Point_Agreement_for_the_Peaceful_Liberation_of_Tibet

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

thagomizer: (anatomy) An arrangement of spikes found on the tails of various stegosaurs. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thagomizer

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The better part of wisdom is a sublime prudence, a pure and patient truth that will receive nothing it is not sure it can permanently lay to heart. --Margaret Fuller https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Margaret_Fuller