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
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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)
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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)