Wikipedia article of the day for January 22, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 22, 2021 is Æthelred I, King of Wessex.
Æthelred I (845 or 848 – 871) was King of Wessex from 865 until his death. He was the fourth of five sons of King Æthelwulf. He succeeded his elder brother Æthelberht and was followed by his youngest brother, Alfred the Great. Æthelred's two infant sons were passed over for the kingship. Æthelred's accession coincided with the arrival of the Viking Great Heathen Army in England. Over the next five years the Vikings conquered Northumbria and East Anglia, before launching a full-scale attack on Wessex in late 870. In early January 871, Æthelred was defeated at the Battle of Reading. Four days later he scored a victory in the Battle of Ashdown, but this was followed by two defeats at Basing and Meretun. He died shortly after Easter. Alfred was forced to buy off the Vikings, but decisively defeated them seven years later. Æthelred's reign was important numismatically, as he adopted the Mercian Lunettes design, creating a unified coinage design for southern England for the first time.

Wikipedia article of the day for January 21, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 21, 2021 is Cardiff City Stadium.
Sixteen grounds have hosted the Wales national football team in international association football competitions. The team played its first match in 1876 against Scotland before hosting its first home match the following year at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham, the world's oldest international football ground still in use. The ground hosted all of Wales's matches until 1890. Matches were held in several parts of the country, including Bangor, Cardiff and Swansea, over the following two decades. Ninian Park in Cardiff hosted its first international in 1911, and Vetch Field in Swansea hosted its first in 1921; they shared Wales's home matches with the Racecourse for nearly a century. In 1989 the team began playing at the National Stadium in Cardiff, and in 2000 the Millennium Stadium became the team's new home ground. After a gradual drop in attendance, Cardiff City Stadium (pictured) was designated Wales's permanent home venue. The Racecourse has held more matches (94) than any other venue.

Wikipedia article of the day for January 20, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 20, 2021 is John Neal (writer).
John Neal (1793–1876) was an American writer, critic, editor, lecturer, and activist. He delivered speeches and published essays, novels, poems, and short stories between the 1810s and 1870s. Neal advanced American art, advocated the end of slavery and racial prejudice, and helped establish the American gymnastics movement. The first author to use natural diction, he was also the first to use "son-of-a-bitch" in a work of fiction. He attained his greatest literary achievements between 1817 and 1835 as the first American published in British literary journals, author of the first history of American literature, America's first art critic, and a forerunner of the American Renaissance. One of the first men to advocate women's rights in the US, he affirmed intellectual equality between men and women, fought coverture laws, and demanded equal pay, better education and suffrage for women, declaring "I tell you there is no hope for woman, till she has a hand in making the law".

Wikipedia article of the day for January 19, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 19, 2021 is Alexander II Zabinas.
Alexander II Zabinas (c. 150 BC – 123 BC) was a Seleucid monarch of the Hellenistic period who reigned as King of Syria between 128 BC and 123 BC. Most historians, ancient and modern, maintain that he was a pretender to the throne, although his coinage suggests that he claimed descent from Antiochus IV (died 164 BC), the brother of King Seleucus IV (died 175 BC). Descendants of both brothers were contending for the throne. In 128 BC, King Demetrius II of Syria, the representative of Seleucus IV's line, invaded Egypt to support his mother-in-law Cleopatra II in a civil war. Demetrius was killed while trying to find refuge in the city of Tyre, and Alexander II became the master of the kingdom. Egypt's Ptolemy VIII did not want a strong king on the Syrian throne, and in 124 BC an alliance was established between Egypt and Cleopatra Thea, ruling jointly with Antiochus VIII, her son by Demetrius II. Alexander II was defeated and was probably executed by Antiochus VIII.

Wikipedia article of the day for January 18, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 18, 2021 is Porlock Stone Circle.
Porlock Stone Circle, on Exmoor in the south-western English county of Somerset, is part of a tradition of stone circle construction that spread throughout much of Britain, Ireland, and Brittany during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age between 3,300 and 900 BCE. The purpose of such monuments is unknown, although archaeologists speculate that the stones represented supernatural entities for the circles' builders. Many monuments were built in Exmoor during the Bronze Age, but the only other surviving stone circle in the area is the one near Withypool. The circle near Porlock is about 24 metres (79 feet) in diameter and has thirteen green micaceous sandstone rocks. Directly to the north-east of the ring is a cairn apparently connected to a linear stone row. A small lead wheel inside the circle suggests that the site was visited during the Romano-British period. The site was rediscovered in the 1920s.

Wikipedia article of the day for January 17, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 17, 2021 is Elizabeth Willing Powel.
Elizabeth Willing Powel (February 21, 1743 – January 17, 1830) was an American socialite and a prominent member of the Philadelphia upper class of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. After the American Revolutionary War, she established a salon of the Republican Court of leading intellectuals and political figures. She corresponded widely, including with the political elite of the time. A close friend to George Washington, she was among those who convinced him to continue for a second term as president. She wrote extensively, but privately, on a wide range of subjects, including politics, the role of women, medicine, education, and philosophy. Powel is said to be the person who asked Benjamin Franklin "What have we got, a republic or a monarchy?", to which he replied "A republic ... if you can keep it"; over time the role played by Powel in this exchange has been all but removed. Hundreds of her letters and several of her portraits survive.

Wikipedia article of the day for January 16, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 16, 2021 is John C. Breckinridge.
John C. Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was an American lawyer, politician, and soldier. He represented Kentucky in both houses of Congress and became the youngest-ever vice president of the United States. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1850 as a Democrat. He served as vice president from 1857 to 1861 alongside President James Buchanan. In 1859, he was elected senator for Kentucky. The Southern Democrats held two rival conventions; one nominated Breckinridge for president, who carried most of the Southern states. With the southern vote split, Abraham Lincoln won the election. Taking his Senate seat, Breckinridge urged compromise. When the Civil War broke out, Breckinridge fled to the Confederacy. He fought in numerous engagements as a general officer. In 1865 he was appointed secretary of war and urged the Confederate president, Jefferson Davis, to arrange a national surrender. After the war he lived abroad, returning in 1869.