The Battle of Aljubarrota took place on August 14 1385, between Portuguese forces commanded by D. João I of Portugal and his general Nuno Alvares Pereira, and the Castilian army of Juan I of Castile. The place was Aljubarrota, between the towns of Leiria and Alcobaça in central Portugal. The result was a decisive defeat for the Castilians and the end of the 1383–1385 Crisis, establishing D. João I, Master of the Order of Aviz, as King of Portugal. Independence was assured and a new dynasty, the House of Aviz, started. Scattered border confrontations with Castilian troops would persist until the death of Juan I in 1390, but these posed no real threat to the Portuguese crown. To celebrate his victory and acknowledge divine help, João I ordered the construction of the Monastery of Santa Maria of Batalha and the founding of the town of Batalha (the Portuguese word for "battle"). The king, his wife, and several of his sons are buried in this monastery, which is an important part of Portuguese heritage.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1264: King Henry III was captured in the Battle of Lewes, making Simon de Montfort the de facto ruler of England. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_III_of_England)

1796: Edward Jenner began testing cowpox as a vaccine for protection against smallpox. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Jenner)

1804: The Lewis and Clark Expedition departed from Camp Dubois and began traveling up the Missouri River. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition)

1948: Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion publicly read the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel in Tel Aviv. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ben-Gurion)

1973: The NASA space station Skylab was launched from Cape Canaveral. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylab)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"If I had my way, if I was lucky enough, if I could be on the brink my entire life— that great sense of expectation and excitement without the disappointment— that would be the perfect state." -- Cate Blanchett (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cate_Blanchett)