The Benty Grange helmet is a boar-crested Anglo-Saxon helmet from the 7th century. It was excavated by Thomas Bateman in 1848 from a burial mound at the Benty Grange farm in Monyash in western Derbyshire. The grave had likely been looted by the time of Bateman's excavation, but still contained other high-status objects suggestive of a richly furnished burial, such as the fragmentary remains of a hanging bowl. The ornate helmet was constructed by covering the outside of an iron framework with plates of horn and the inside with cloth or leather, now decayed. It would have provided some protection against weapons, but may have also been intended for ceremonial use. It was the first Anglo-Saxon helmet to be discovered; others have been found at Sutton Hoo, York, Wollaston, Shorwell, and Staffordshire. The helmet is displayed at Sheffield's Weston Park Museum, which purchased it from Bateman's estate in 1893.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1777:

American Revolutionary War: Sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington (statue pictured) rode forty miles through the night to warn militiamen under the control of her father that British troops were planning to invade Danbury, Connecticut. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_Ludington

1944:

World War II: U.S. Navy submarines began attacks on Japan's Take Ichi convoy as it sailed in waters between Taiwan and the Philippines, eventually sinking four vessels and killing more than 4,000 troops. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Ichi_convoy

1989:

A tornado struck the Manikganj District of Bangladesh, killing an estimated 1,300 people, making it the deadliest tornado in history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daulatpur%E2%80%93Saturia_tornado

2002:

Expelled student Robert Steinhäuser murdered sixteen people and wounded seven others before committing suicide at the Gutenberg- Gymnasium Erfurt in Erfurt, Germany. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erfurt_school_massacre

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

prozymite: (Roman Catholicism, historical, derogatory) One who administers the Eucharist with leavened bread, in particular a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prozymite

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

There was an idea … called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people — see if they could become something more — see if they could work together when we needed them to to fight the battles we never could.   --The Avengers https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Avengers_%282012_film%29