Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 August 3

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From today's featured article

Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians (died 911) became ruler of English Mercia shortly after the death of its last king, Ceolwulf II, in 879. His rule was confined to the western half, as eastern Mercia was then part of the Viking-ruled Danelaw. Æthelred's origin is unknown, and he was first recorded as the probable leader of an unsuccessful Mercian invasion of Wales in 881. Shortly afterwards, he married Æthelflæd, a daughter of King Alfred the Great of Wessex, and submitted to Alfred's lordship, an important step towards the unification of England in the next century. In the 890s the Vikings renewed their attacks, and in 893 Æthelred led a joint force of Mercians, West Saxons and Welsh to a decisive victory over the Vikings at the Battle of Buttington. He spent much of the decade fighting the Vikings in cooperation with Alfred's son, the future Edward the Elder. Historians disagree whether Æthelred governed Mercia as Alfred's deputy or whether he was a ruler of a semi-independent territory. Æthelred died in 911 and was succeeded by his widow, and then briefly by his daughter, before Mercia was annexed by Edward the Elder in 918. (Full article...)

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In the news

Gas explosions in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, kill at least 26 people and injure more than 250.
Heavy rains trigger a landslide in the Pune district of India, killing at least 50 people.
The 45th Pacific Islands Forum opens in Koror, Palau, with climate change as the main topic.
An international arbitral tribunal orders Russia to repay US$50 billion to shareholders of the Yukos Oil Company for breaching the Energy Charter Treaty.
Fuad Masum is elected President of Iraq by the Iraqi parliament.
The Séléka and anti-balaka militias agree to a ceasefire in the Central African Republic civil war.

Ongoing: Commonwealth Games – Gaza conflict – Ebola outbreak – Ukrainian unrest

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On this day...

August 3: Independence Day in Niger (1960); Flag Day in Venezuela

1852 – The inaugural Harvard–Yale Regatta—the first intercollegiate sports event in the United States—was held on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire.
1900 – The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, a pioneer in the mass production of automobile tires, was founded by Harvey Firestone (pictured) in Akron, Ohio, US.
1929 – Jiddu Krishnamurti, believed to likely be the messianic "World Teacher", shocked the Theosophy movement by dissolving the Order of the Star, the organisation established to support him.
1940 – World War II: Italy began their invasion of British Somaliland.
2007 – Former Deputy Director of the Chilean secret police Raúl Iturriaga was captured after having been on the run following a conviction for kidnapping.

More anniversaries: August 2 – August 3 – August 4

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It is now August 3, 2014 (UTC) – Reload this page

Today's featured picture

The great-winged petrel (Pterodroma macroptera) is a species of petrel endemic to southern Australia and New Zealand; this specimen was photographed east of Tasmania. Two subspecies of the great-winged petrel are recognized.

Photograph: JJ Harrison

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