The names of the English rivers Amber, Avon, Axe, Esk, Exe, Ouse, Humber, Irwell, Thames and Tyne all mean 'river' or 'water' in various old languages.
Quote of the Day
"The rights of man are made, not for counter-revolutionaries, but only for sans-culottes.
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~ Collot d'Herbois, French revolutionary
On This Day
1173Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury and one-time friend of Henry II who was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral, was canonised.
1431The trial of Joan of Arc for heresy began in an English-backed church court in Normandy. It would result in her execution and eventual canonisation.
1437James I of Scotland was assassinated by a group of dissident nobles led by the Earl of Atholl.
1741Jethro Tull - the agriculturist who helped introduce the Agricultural Revolution, rather than the music group - died aged 66.
1804The world's first steam railway locomotive, designed by Richard Trevithick, was demonstrated along ten miles of tramway at Penydaren Ironworks in South Wales.
1848One of the world's most influential political manuscripts, the Communist Manifesto written by Marx and Engels, was published in London.
1916The Battle of Verdun, the longest and one of the bloodiest engagements of World War I, began. It continued until 18th December 1916.
1952Identity cards, introduced during World War II, were abolished, in a move considered to 'set the people free'.
1965The divisive US black civil rights activist and religious leader Malcolm X was assassinated by Nation of Islam members.
