John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650–1722) was a prominent English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs throughout the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Churchill's role in defeating the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685 helped secure James, the Duke of York on the throne, yet just three years later he abandoned his Catholic mentor for the Protestant Dutchman, William of Orange. Churchill served with distinction in the early years of the Nine Years' War, but persistent charges of Jacobitism brought about his fall from office and temporary imprisonment in the Tower. His marriage to Sarah Jennings – Queen Anne's friend – ensured Marlborough's rise to a dukedom. Becoming de facto leader of Allied forces during the War of the Spanish Succession, his victories in battles ensured his place in history as one of Europe's great generals. But his wife's stormy relationship with the Queen, and her subsequent dismissal from court, was central to him being forced from office and into self-imposed exile. He returned to England and to influence under the House of Hanover with the accession of George I to the British throne in 1714, but his health gradually deteriorated, and he died on 16 June 1722 (O.S).

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1828:

Kaspar Hauser , a foundling with suspected ties to the Royal House of Baden, first appeared in the streets of Nuremberg, Germany. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspar_Hauser

1896:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, representing twelve stocks from various American industries, was first published by journalist Charles Dow as a stock market index. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dow_Jones_Industrial_Average

1918:

The Democratic Republic of Georgia was proclaimed following the breakup of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Georgia

1972:

U.S. President Richard Nixon and Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in Moscow, concluding the first round of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Ballistic_Missile_Treaty

2006:

An earthquake measuring about 6.3 Mw struck near the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta on the southern side of the island of Java, killing at least 5,700 people, injuring at least 36,000, and leaving at least 1.5 million homeless. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_2006_Java_earthquake

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

you-know-who (pron): Person or entity whose name one does not want to mention but which is known to the person to whom one is speaking http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/you-know-who

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

You have so many things in the background that you're supposed to do, there's no room left to think. I say, forget all that and ask yourself, "What's the simplest thing that could possibly work?" --Ward Cunningham http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ward_Cunningham