Wednesday, September 29, 2010

History Trivia

On September 30 420 Saint Jerome, one of the great scholars of the early Christian church, died at age 80. In 579 Pope Benedict I died and in 1227 Pope Nicholas IV was born.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

History Trivia

On September 29 106 BC Pompey the Great, statesman and general of the Roman Empire was born. He was the chief rival of Julius Caesar. In 440 AD, Saint Leo I, the Great, was elected Roman Catholic pope and in 1399 King Richard II of England abdicated; he was succeeded by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke (Henry IV). Richard was initially imprisoned and later died from "uncertain causes."

Monday, September 27, 2010

History Trivia

On September 28, 48 B.C. Pompey the Great was murdered on the orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt. In 551 B.C. teacher and philosopher Confucius was born. He dedicated most of his life to teaching, starting at the age of 22 when he opened his first school. In 929 King Wenceslas I, regarded as the patron saint of Bohemia, was assassinated and in 1066 William the Conqueror and his Norman army arrived in England, landing at Pevensey.

History Trivia

On September 27, 1009 Caliph al Hakim ordered the destruction of Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, a Christian holy site. In 1066 William the Conqueror, with a Norman army of 5,000 men, set sail from France for England, to claim the English throne and in 1540 Pope Paul III approved the first outline of the organization of the Jesuit Society, drafted by St. Ignatius of Loyola, the order's founder.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Books for Deployed Soldiers

Dear Wonderful Fans: Re books for our deployed soldiers. Don't miss the chance to participate! 1,111 Books for 11/11 via Canonbridge LLC (www.canonbridge.com) There is also a link on my webpage (www.maryannbernal.com) for your convenience. Thanks for participating in this great project.

Monday, September 20, 2010

History Trivia

On September 26 1143 Celestine II became Pope. A friend of Peter Abelard, Celestine was a scholar whose pontificate only lasted six months. In 1580, Francis Drake completed the first circumnavigation of the globe by an Englishman when he sailed into Plymouth and in 1687 The Parthenon in Athens, unscathed since 432 BC, was severely damaged by a gunpowder explosion.

History Trivia

On September 25 1066 - Battle of Stamford Bridge - The last Viking battle on English soil claimed the lives of Harald Hardrada and the brother of King Harold of England, Tostig. It also delayed Harold's arrival at Hastings, becoming a significant factor in the outcome of the Norman Conquest.

History Trivia

On September 24, 15 AD, Aulus Vitellius was born. He was one of the four emperors of 69 AD. In 622 the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, arrived in Medina after fleeing Mecca and in 768 AD Pepin the Short, King of the Franks and father of Charlemagne, died at age 54.

History Trivia

On September 23, 480 BC, the Battle of Salamis, Greece, the greatest of ancient naval battles, was won by Greece over Persia. Over 1,000 Persian ships were sunk by fewer than 400 Greek vessels and in 63 BC, Augustus (Octavian) was born. He was the Roman emperor at the time of Christ, and the founder in 27 BC of the Roman Empire as it was known after the end of the Roman Republic of Julius Caesar's time.

History Trivia

On September 22 530 both Boniface II and Dioscorus were consecrated as pope after the death of Pope Felix IV (or III). The schism that resulted would end with Dioscorus' death and in 1515 Anne of Cleves was born. The fourth wife of Henry VIII, Anne managed to obtain a divorce from the much-married king, maintained friendly relations with his family, and kept her head.

Friday, September 17, 2010

History Trivia

On September 21, 490 BC the Greeks under Miltiades decisively defeated the army of Darius I of Persia at the Battle of Marathon. In 19 BC, Virgil, the great Roman poet, died in Rome at age 50. In 454 AD Falvius Actius, Roman general and statesman was born and in 1745 a Jacobite army under 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' defeated government forces at the Battle of Prestonpans.

History Trivia

On September 20, 356 BC, Alexander the Great King of Macedonia and one of the greatest generals in history was born. In 451 AD the Romans defeated Attila the Hun at Chalons-sur-Marne in France. In 1378 Western Schism began. The Avignon Papacy came to an end when Pope Gregory XI returned the papal see to Rome, then died before he could return to France. A Roman was elected to succeed him and took the name Urban VI. Urban was so hostile to the cardinals, who had achieved considerable power during the papacy's years in France, that thirteen members of the Sacred College went into conclave and chose another pope. This antipope took the name of Clement VII and took up residence at Avignon, beginning a schism that was characterized by the simultaneous administrations of two (and later three) popes, and which would last nearly 40 years and in 1633 Astronomer Galileo Galilei was tried before the Inquisition for teaching that the Earth orbits the Sun.

History Trivia

On September 19, 690, St. Theodore, the seventh archbishop of Canterbury and the first to rule the entire English Church, died. In 912, Emperor Leo VI of Byzantium,known as "the Wise" or "the Philosopher," was born. Emperor Leo VI issued imperial laws in Greek that became the legal code of the Empire and in 1356 the Battle of Poitiers was fought between England and France. Edward "the Black Prince" captured France's King John.

History Trivia

On September 18, 96 AD, Marcus Nerva became emperor of Rome after Emperor Domitian was stabbed to death with his wife's help and in 1180 Philip Augustus (Philip II) became sole King of France upon the death of his father.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

History Trivia

On September 17 530 Boniface II was selected Pope and in 1745 Jacobite leader Bonnie Prince Charlie entered Edinburgh, proclaiming his father James VIII of Scotland.

History Trivia

On September 16 335 BC Alexander the Great destroyed every building in Thebes, Egypt, except the temples and the house of the poet Pindar. In 1387 King Henry V of England was born and in 1400 Owain Glyndwr was proclaimed Prince of Wales after rebelling against English rule. He was the last Welsh-born Prince of Wales.

History Trivia

On September 15 53 AD, Trajan, Emperor of Rome 98-117 AD, was born and in 1159 Alexander III was crowned Roman Catholic pope.

Monday, September 13, 2010

The Morning Blend

Many thanks to Mary and Mike, co-hosts of The Morning Blend, for the warm welcome.

Friday, September 10, 2010

History Trivia

On September 14 786 Harun-al-Rashid became caliph. In 891 Pope Steven V who witnessed the disintegration of the Carolingian Empire died and in 1523 Pope Adrian VI the only Dutch pope, and the last non-Italian pope to be elected until Pope John Paul II in the twentieth century died.

History Trivia

On September 13, 81 AD Roman emperor Titus, who was on the throne when Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, died in Rome at age 40. In 604 Sabinianus was elected Roman Catholic pope. In 1321 Dante died. In 1598 King Philip II of Spain died and in 1645 The Royalists are routed at the Battle of Philiphaugh, defeating Charles I's cause in Scotland.

History Trivia

On September 12 1185 Byzantine emperor Andronicus I was tortured and executed by the Greek nobility, led by Isaac Angelus, during a war between the Byzantines and Norman invaders of the empire. In 1362 Pope Innocent VI died. In 1494 King Francis I was born and in 1683 John III of Poland and Charles of Lorraine lift the siege of Vienna, ending Ottoman expansion in Europe.

History Trivia

On September 11 814, Louis I, the Pious, succeeded his father, the great French king Charlemagne, as King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans. In 1297 Scotsman William Wallace defeated the English forces of Sir Hugh de Cressingham at the Battle of Stirling Bridge and in 1499 French forces took over Milan, Italy.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

History Trivia

On September 10, 422 Saint Celestine I was elected Roman Catholic pope. In 1167Empress Matilda died. Maud was the daughter of King Henry I, widow of Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, and mother of King Henry II. She engaged in a civil war with Stephen of Blois over the crown of England. In 1487 Pope Julius III was born and in 1547 in the last battle between English and Scottish royal armies, the Scots were routed at Pinkie, Edinburgh.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

History Trivia

On September 9 490 B.C. The Battle of Marathon took place between the invading Persian army and the Athenian Army. The marathon race was derived from the events that occurred surrounding this battle. In 1087, William the Conqueror died in Rouen at age 59 after an accident while riding his horse. In 1513 The English killed James IV of Scotland and defeated his army at the Battle of Flodden Field, Northumbria and in 1598 Francesco Cenci, a powerful and vicious nobleman of Rome, was murdered.

History Trivia

On September 8 701 St. Sergius I (7th C Pope) died. In 1011 St. Alphege (or Elphege or Aelfheah), Archbishop of Canterbury, was captured by marauding Danes, held prisoner for months, and eventually murdered. In 1157 Richard the Lion-Hearted, King of England, was born. In 1380 St. Bernardine of Siena was born. In 1276 John XXI was Elected Pope.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

History Trivia

On September 7 70 AD the Romans sacked Jerusalem, leaving only the "Wailing Wall" intact. In 1191 Richard I of England defeated Saladin at the Battle of Arsuf, ending the sultan's aura of invincibility. In 1303 Philip IV of France had Pope Boniface VIII seized at his palace at Anagni. The Pope was quickly freed but died soon thereafter and in 1533, Queen Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn was born.

History Trivia

On September 6, 973 Pope John XIII died. In 1522 Ferdinand Magellan's expedition was the first to circumnavigate the globe, but Magellan died en route. In 1651 Charles II spent the day hiding in an oak tree following defeat by Oliver Cromwell at Worcester and in 1666 The Great Fire of London was finally extinguished after much of the city and St Paul's Cathedral are lost.

History Trivia

On September 5, 394, Theodosius reunited the entire Roman empire for the last time with victory at the Battle of Frigidus and in 1316 John XXII, the second Roman Catholic pope to reside in Avignon, France rather than Rome, was crowned.

Friday, September 3, 2010

History Trivia

On September 4, 476 Romulus Augustulus, the last emperor of the western Roman Empire, was deposed when Odoacer proclaimed himself King of Italy. In 925 Athelstan crowned King - Athelstan was first elected king of Wessex and Mercia, Athelstan was crowned king of the entire country at Kingston and in 1241 Alexander III of Scotland was born.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

History Trivia

On September 3, 590 Gregory I was consecrated as pope and in 1189 Richard the Lionheart was crowned king of England

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

History Trivia

On September 2,31 BC, the defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra's navy at Actium gave Octavian control of the Roman empire. In 44 BC, Cicero delivered his First Philippic, an attack on Mark Antony, in the Roman senate. In 490 Phidippides of Athens was sent to seek help against the invading Persian Army. The runner was the inspiration for the 26-mile marathon of the Olympic Games in Athens in 1896.
In 595, St. John the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople, died. In 1397 Francesco Landini a leading composer of 14th-century Italy died and in 1666 The Great Fire of London began in a bakery on Pudding Lane and destroyed much of the city.