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James IV Of Scotland

James IV of Scotland

James IV (March 17, 1473 – September 9, 1513) was king of Scotland from 1488 to 1513. The son of King James III and Margaret of Denmark, he was probably born in Stirling Castle. When his father was killed at the Battle of Sauchieburn on June 11, 1488 (or possibly assassinated a few hours later) the fifteen-year-old James took the throne and was crowned at Scone, Perthshire on June 24. The rebels who had gathered at Sauchieburn had done so with James supposedly as their figurehead. When James realised the indirect role which he had played in the death of his father, he decided to do penance for his sin. From that date on he wore a heavy iron chain round his waist next to the skin as a constant reminder. James IV quickly proved to be an effective ruler. He defeated another rebellion in 1489, took a direct interest in the administration of justice and finally brought the Lord of the Isles under control in 1493. James was well educated and it was claimed that he was fluent in Lowland Scots, English, Scottish Gaelic, Latin, French, German, Italian, Flemish, Spanish and Danish. He was a true Renaissance prince with an interest in practical and scientific matters. James granted the Edinburgh College of Surgeons a royal charter in 1506, turned Edinburgh Castle into one of Britain's foremost gun foundries and welcomed the establishment of Scotland's first printing press in 1507. James also loved ships and saw the importance in Scotland having a large navy. He acquired thirty-eight ships for the Royal Scottish Navy and founded two new dockyards. His finest creation was the carrack Great Michael. Launched in 1511 she weighed 1,000 tons, was 240 feet in length and was then the largest ship in Europe. For a time he supported the pretender to the English throne Perkin Warbeck and carried out a brief invasion of England on his behalf. Having fought off the aggression of King Henry VII of England, James recognized that peace between Scotland and England was in the interest of both countries, and so attempted to maintain peace with his neighbour by agreeing a treaty of "perpetual peace" in 1502 and marrying Henry's daughter Margaret Tudor, on August 8, 1503, at Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh. The couple's first three children all died in infancy. Their son James V survived, and he also had a posthumous son, Alexander, who died in infancy. When war broke out between England and France as a result of the Italian Wars, James found himself in a difficult position. The new king of England, Henry VIII, attempted to invade France in 1513, and James reacted by declaring war on England. Hoping to take advantage of Henry's absence, he led an invading army southward, only to be killed, with many of his nobles and common soldiers, at the disastrous Battle of Flodden Field on September 9, ending Scotland's involvement in the War of the League of Cambrai. A body thought to be his was recovered from the battlefield and taken to London for burial. As he was excommunicated, the embalmed body lay unburied for many years in the monastery of Sheen in Surrey, and was lost after the Reformation. Rumors persisted that he had survived and had gone into exile, but there is no evidence to support them. James also had seven illegitimate children by four different mistresses: three by Janet Kennedy, two by Marion Boyd, and one each by Margaret Drummond and Isabel Buchan. Two by Janet Kennedy died in infancy, three daughters and two sons reached adulthood. Alexander Stewart, his son by Marion Boyd, whom James had made Archbishop of St. Andrews, died at the Battle of Flodden. His other illegitimate son was James Stewart, Earl of Moray. James IV is also significant in Scottish history as the last King of Scots to have been fluent in Scottish Gaelic. Category:1473 births Category:1513 deaths Category:House of Stuart Category:Scottish monarchs Category:Dukes in the Peerage of Scotland

March 17

March 17 is the 76th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (77th in Leap years). There are 289 days remaining.

Events


- 45 BC - In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
- 1577 - The Cathay Company is formed to send Martin Frobisher back to the New World for more gold.
- 1673 - Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet begin their exploration of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi river.
- 1756 - St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in New York City for the first time (at the Crown and Thistle Tavern).
- 1776 - American Revolution: British forces evacuate Boston, Massachusetts after George Washington places artillery overlooking the city.
- 1805 - The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King.
- 1821 - Mani declared war on the Ottoman Empire starting the Greek War of Independence.
- 1845 - The rubber band is invented
- 1861 - The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed.
- 1886 - Carrollton Massacre: 20 African Americans are killed in Mississippi.
- 1891 - The British steamship SS Utopia sinks off the coast of Gibraltar, killing 574.
- 1901 - A showing of 71 Vincent van Gogh paintings in Paris, 11 years after his death, creates a sensation.
- 1910 - Luther Gulick and his wife Charlotte found Camp Fire Girls (now Camp Fire USA) (formally announced in 1912).
- 1921 - The Second Republic of Poland adopts the March Constitution.
- 1931 - Nevada legalizes gambling.
- 1939 - Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945): The Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and the Japanese break out.
- 1941 - In Washington, DC, the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- 1948 - Benelux, France, and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the NATO Agreement.
- 1950 - University of California, Berkeley researchers announce the creation of element 98, which they name "Californium".
- 1958 - The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.
- 1959 - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet and travels to India.
- 1966 - Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.
- 1969 - Golda Meir of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, becomes Prime Minister of Israel.
- 1970 - My Lai massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident.
- 1985 - Serial killer Richard Ramirez, the "Night Stalker", commits his first two murders in Los Angeles, California murder spree.
- 1988 - A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into the side of the mountains near the Venezuelan border killing 143.
- 1992 - A suicide car-bomb kills 29 and injures 242 at the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- 2003 - British Cabinet Minister, Robin Cook, resigns over government plans for war with Iraq.
- 2004 - Massive Unrest in Kosovo. Over 22 killed, 200 wounded, 35 destroyed Serb Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Belgrade and Nis.

Births


- 1231 - Emperor Shijo of Japan (d. 1252)
- 1473 - King James IV of Scotland (d. 1513)
- 1628 - François Girardon, French sculptor (d. 1715)
- 1676 - Thomas Boston, Scottish church leader (d. 1732)
- 1725 - Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-born American military and political leader (d. 1806)
- 1777 - Roger Taney, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1864)
- 1780 - Thomas Chalmers, Scottish pastor, social reformer, author, and scientist (d. 1847)
- 1804 - Jim Bridger, American trapper and explorer (d. 1881)
- 1820 - Jean Ingelow, English poet (d. 1897)
- 1834 - Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and inventor (d. 1900)
- 1846 - Kate Greenaway, English children's author and illustrator (d. 1901)
- 1862 - Silvio Gesell, Belgian economist (d. 1930)
- 1866 - Pierce Butler, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1939)
- 1870 - Horace Donisthorpe, British entomologist (d. 1951)
- 1880 - Sir Patrick Hastings, British barrister (d. 1952)
- 1881 - Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
- 1883 - Urmuz, Romanian writer (d. 1923)
- 1884 - Alcide Nunez, American jazz clarinetist (d. 1934)
- 1892 - Benjamin Drake Van Wissen, Australian Engineer.
- 1894 - Paul Green, American writer (d. 1981)
- 1895 - Shemp Howard, actor (d. 1955)
- 1901 - Alfred Newman, American film composer (d. 1970)
- 1902 - Bobby Jones, American golfer (d. 1971)
- 1908 - Brigitte Helm, German actress (d. 1996)
- 1912 - Bayard Rustin, American civil rights activist (d. 1987)
- 1914 - Sammy Baugh, American football player
- 1916 - Ray Ellington, British singer (d. 1985)
- 1918 - Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (d. 2004)
- 1919 - Nat King Cole, American singer (d. 1965)
- 1920 - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Prime Minister of Bangladesh (d. 1975)
- 1926 - Siegfried Lenz, German writer
- 1930 - James Irwin, astronaut (d. 1991)
- 1936 - Ladislav Kupkovic, Slovakian composer
- 1936 - Ken Mattingly, astronaut
- 1938 - Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-born dancer and choreographer (d. 1993)
- 1940 - Mark White, American politician
- 1941 - Paul Kantner, American musician (Jefferson Airplane)
- 1942 - John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (d. 1994)
- 1944 - Pattie Boyd, British photographer and model
- 1944 - Cito Gaston, baseball player and coach
- 1944 - John Sebastian, American singer and songwriter
- 1945 - Elis Regina, Brazilian singer (d. 1982)
- 1946 - Georges J.F. Kohler, German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1995)
- 1947 - James Morrow, author
- 1948 - William Gibson, American-born writer
- 1949 - Patrick Duffy, American actor
- 1950 - Patrick Adams, American record producer and songwriter
- 1951 - Kurt Russell, American actor
- 1954 - Lesley-Anne Down, English actress
- 1955 - Gary Sinise, American actor
- 1956 - Patrick McDonnell, American cartoonist
- 1957 - Michael Kelly, American journalist (d. 2003)
- 1959 - Danny Ainge, American basketball player and coach
- 1961 - Casey Siemaszko, American actor
- 1964 - Rob Lowe, American actor
- 1967 - William Patrick Corgan, Jr., American musician
- 1967 - Barry Minkow, American businessman
- 1969 - Mathew St. Patrick, American actor
- 1972 - Mia Hamm, American soccer player
- 1973 - Caroline Corr, Irish singer and musician
- 1973 - Rico Blanco, Filipino singer (Rivermaya)
- 1975 - Justin Hawkins, British singer (The Darkness)
- 1976 - Stephen Gately, Irish singer, musician, and actor (Boyzone)
- 1979 - Andrew Ference, Canadian hockey player

Deaths


- 45 BC - Titus Labienus, Roman leader (in battle)
- 45 BC - Gnaeus Pompeius, the Younger, Roman general (executed)
- 180 - Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (b. 121)
- 461 - Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland
- 1040 - Harold Harefoot, King of England
- 1058 - King Lulach I of Scotland
- 1272 - Emperor Go-Saga of Japan (b. 1220)
- 1425 - Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Japanese shogun (b. 1407)
- 1516 - Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (b. 1478)
- 1565 - Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian (b. 1500)
- 1640 - Philip Massinger, English dramatist (b. 1583)
- 1680 - François de La Rochefoucauld, French writer (b. 1613)
- 1704 - Menno van Coehoorn, Dutch military engineer (b. 1641)
- 1715 - Gilbert Burnet, Scottish Bishop of Salisbury (b. 1643)
- 1741 - Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, French poet (b. 1671)
- 1764 - George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, English astronomer
- 1782 - Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-born mathematician (b. 1700)
- 1830 - Laurent, Marquis de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, French marshal (b. 1764)
- 1846 - Friedrich Bessel, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1784)
- 1849 - William II of the Netherlands (b. 1792)
- 1853 - Christian Doppler, Austrian physician and mathematician (b. 1803)
- 1893 - Jules Ferry, French statesman (b. 1832)
- 1917 - Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (b. 1838)
- 1937 - Austen Chamberlain, English statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1863)
- 1956 - Fred Allen, American actor and comedian (b. 1894)
- 1956 - Irene Joliot-Curie, French physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1897)
- 1957 - Ramon Magsaysay, President of the Philippines (b. 1907)
- 1965 - Amos Alonzo Stagg, baseball, basketball, and football coach and player (b. 1862)
- 1976 - Luchino Visconti, Italian director (b. 1906)
- 1983 - Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- 1987 - Santo Trafficante, Jr., American gangster (b. 1914)
- 1989 - Merritt Butrick, American actor (b. 1959)
- 1990 - Capucine, French actress (b. 1931)
- 1993 - Helen Hayes, American actress (b. 1900)
- 1995 - Ronnie Kray, British gangster (b. 1933)
- 1999 - Ernest Gold, Austrian composer (b. 1921)
- 1999 - Rod Hull, British comedian (b. 1936)
- 2002 - Rosetta LeNoire, American actress and producer (b. 1911)
- 2002 - Pat Weaver, American broadcast executive (b. 1908)
- 2004 - J.J. Jackson, American television personality (b. 1941)
- 2005 - George F. Kennan, American Cold War strategist and historian (b. 1904)
- 2005 - Andre Norton, American writer (b. 1912)

Holidays and observances


- Ancient Latvia - Kustonu Diena observed
- Boston, Massachusetts - Evacuation Day
- Feast day of St Patrick: a public holiday in Ireland and Montserrat, widely celebrated in North America (see St. Patrick's Day)
- ancient Rome - the second day of the Bacchanalia in honor of Bacchus
- ancient Rome - the Liberalia in honor of Liber  

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/17 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.tnl.net/when/3/17 Today in History: March 17] ---- March 16 - March 18 - February 17 - April 17 -- listing of all days ko:3월 17일 ms:17 Mac ja:3月17日 simple:March 17 th:17 มีนาคม

1473

Events


- Ottoman sultan Mehmed II defeats the White Sheep Turkmens lead by Uzun Hasan at Otlukbeli
- Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan invades the territory of neighboring Aztec city of Tlatelolco. The ruler of Tlatelolco is killed and replaced by a military governor. Tlatelolco loses its independence.
- Possible discovery of Bacalao (possibly Newfoundland, North America) by Didrik Pining and João Vaz Corte-Real.
- Almanach Cracoviense ad annum 1474 is published

Births


- February 19 - Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer (died 1543)
- March 17 - King James IV of Scotland (died 1513)
- August 14 - Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury (died 1541)
- August 17 - Richard, Duke of York, one of the Princes in the Tower (died 1483)
- October 26 - Friedrich of Saxony (d. 1510)
- Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard, French soldier (died 1524)
- Jean Lemaire de Belges, Walloon poet and historian (died 1525)
- Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales, only son of Richard III of England (died 1484)
- Georg von Frundsberg, German Knight and landowner (died 1528)
- Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Tudor politician (died 1555)

Deaths


- January 24 - Conrad Paumann, German composer
- May 8 - John Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, English politician (born 1420)
- John Cantius, Polish scholar and theologian
- James II of Cyprus
- Jean Jouffroy, French prelate and diplomat
- Hosokawa Katsumoto, Japanese nobleman
- Nicholas I, Duke of Lorraine (born 1448)
- Yamana Souzen, Japanese daimyo and monk (born 1404) Category:1473 ko:1473년 simple:1473

September 9

September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). There are 113 days remaining.

Events


- 1000 - Battle of Swold somewhere in the Baltic Sea between Norway and other Scandinavians.
- 1087 - William the Conqueror dies near Rouen, France.
- 1379 - Treaty of Neuberg, splitting the Austrian Habsburg lands between the Habsburg Dukes Albert III and Leopold III.
- 1513 - James IV of Scotland is defeated and dies in the Battle of Flodden Field, ending Scotland's involvement in the War of the League of Cambrai.
- 1543 - Mary Stuart, at nine months old, is officially crowned "Queen of Scots" in the central Scottish town of Stirling.
- 1739 - Stono Rebellion, the largest slave uprising in Britains mainland North American colonies prior to the American Revolution, erupts near Charleston, South Carolina.
- 1776 - The Continental Congress officially names their new country the United States.
- 1839 - John Herschel takes the first glass plate photograph.
- 1850 - California is admitted as the thirty-first U.S. state.
- 1850 - The Compromise of 1850 strips Texas of a third of its claimed territory (now parts of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Wyoming) in return for the U.S. federal government assuming $10 million of Texas's pre-annexation debt.
- 1863 - American Civil War: The Union Army enters Chattanooga, Tennessee.
- 1870 - Redmond, Washington, founded
- 1886 - The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works is finalized.
- 1914 - World War I: The creation of the Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade, the first fully mechanized unit in the British Army.
- 1922 - Greek-Turkish war has ended with Turkish victory over the Greeks. The largest part of the city of Smyrna (on the Minor Asia coast, now Izmir) is burned. Non-Turkic population flees.
- 1923 - Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, founds the Republican People's Party (CHP).
- 1924 - Hanapepe Massacre occurs on Kauai, Hawaii.
- 1926 - The U.S. National Broadcasting Company formed.
- 1942 - World War II: A Japanese floatplane drops an incendiary bomb on Oregon.
- 1943 - World War II: The Allies land at Salerno and Taranto, Italy.
- 1944 - World War II: Bulgaria is occupied by Soviet Union.
- 1945 - Second Sino-Japanese War: Japan formally surrenders to China.
- 1947 - "First actual case of (a computer) bug being found": a moth lodges in a relay of a Mark II computer at Harvard University.
- 1948 - The Republic Day of Democratic People's Republic of Korea
- 1954 - Marilyn Bell swims for 20 hours and 57 minutes under grueling conditions to become the first person to swim across Lake Ontario.
- 1956 - Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time.
- 1965 - The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development is established.
- 1965 - Sandy Koufax throws a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs
- 1966 - The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act signed into law by U.S. President Lyndon Johnson.
- 1970 - Elvis Presley begins a 6 city tour at the Phoenix Veterans Memorial Coliseum. This show is filmed for inclusion in the movie Elvis: That's The Way It Is.
- 1971 - Attica Prison riots
- 1983 - Aaron Pryor beats Alexis Arguello by knockout in round ten of a rematch of their 1982 controversial fight, dubbed The Battle of The Champions.
- 1991 - Tajikstan gains independence from the Soviet Union.
- 1995 - The Sony Playstation is released in North America.
- 1999 - The Sega Dreamcast is released in North America.
- 2001, 01:46:40 UTC - the Unix billennium.
- 2001 - Ahmed Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance, is assassinated in Afghanistan.
- 2004 - 2004 Jakarta embassy bombing: A bomb explodes outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, killing 10 people.
- 2004 - Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica reverses a decision by Minister of Education and Sport Ljiljana Čolić to require the teaching of both creationism and evolution in schools, and announces that Čolić will be replaced.
- 2004 - Friends spin off Joey premieres.

Births


- 1349 - Duke Albert III of Austria (d. 1395)
- 1427 - Thomas de Ros, 10th Baron de Ros, English politician (b. 1464)
- 1466 - Ashikaga Yoshitane, Japanese shogun (d. 1523)
- 1558 - Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercoeur, French soldier (d. 1602)
- 1585 - Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu, French statesman (d. 1642)
- 1629 - Cornelis Tromp, Dutch admiral (d. 1691)
- 1711 - Thomas Hutchinson, American colonial governor of Massachusetts (d. 1780)
- 1737 - Luigi Galvani, Italian physician and physicist (d. 1798)
- 1754 - William Bligh, British naval officer (d. 1817)
- 1755 - Benjamin Bourne, American politician (d. 1808)
- 1828 (N.S.) - Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist (d. 1910)
- 1855 - Anthony Francis Lucas Croatian-born oil exploration pioneer (d. 1921)
- 1868 - Mary Hunter Austin, American writer (d. 1934)
- 1873 - Max Reinhardt, German film director and actor (d. 1943)
- 1878 - Adelaide Crapsey, American poet (d. 1914)
- 1887 - Alf Landon, American politician (d. 1987)
- 1890 - Colonel Harland Sanders, American fast food entrepreneur (d. 1980)
- 1894 - Arthur Freed, American songwriter and film producer (d. 1973)
- 1894 - Bert Oldfield, Australian cricketer (d. 1976)
- 1898 - Frankie Frisch, baseball player (d. 1973)
- 1899 - Waite Hoyt, baseball player (d. 1984)
- 1903 - Phyllis Whitney, American writer
- 1904 - Feroze Khan, Pakistani field hockey player (d. 2005)
- 1908 - Cesare Pavese, Italian poet and novelist (d. 1950)
- 1911 - John Gorton, nineteenth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 2002)
- 1918 - Jimmy Snyder, American bookmaker and sports commentator (d. 1996)
- 1922 - Hans Georg Dehmelt, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1923 - Daniel Carleton Gajdusek, American virologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1924 - Jane Greer, American actress (d. 2001)
- 1924 - Rik Van Steenbergen, Belgian cyclist (d. 2003)
- 1925 - Cliff Robertson, American actor
- 1928 - Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, American musician (d. 1975)
- 1929 - Claude Nougaro, French singer (d. 2004)
- 1935 - Chaim Topol, Israeli actor
- 1939 - Ron McDole, American football player
- 1939 - Carlos Ortiz, Puerto Rican boxer
- 1941 - Peter Bonetti, British footballer
- 1941 - Otis Redding, American singer and songwriter (d. 1967)
- 1941 - Dennis Ritchie, American computer scientist
- 1946 - Bruce Palmer, Canadian musician (Buffalo Springfield) (d. 2004)
- 1946 - Billy Preston, American musician
- 1949 - Joe Theismann, American football player and commentator
- 1951 - Alexander Downer, Australian politician
- 1951 - Tom Wopat, American actor and singer
- 1952 - David A. Stewart, English musician (Eurythmics)
- 1954 - Jeffrey Combs, American actor
- 1957 - Pierre-Laurent Aimard, French pianist
- 1960 - Hugh Grant, British actor
- 1963 - Lauren Allen, American Porn Star
- 1966 - Georg Hackl, German luger
- 1966 - Adam Sandler American actor and comedian
- 1969 - Rachel Hunter, New Zealand model and actress
- 1974 - Mathias Färm, Swedish Guitarist (Millencolin)
- 1982 - Ai Otsuka, Japanese singer and songwriter
- 1986 - Max Olesen, Canadian sex symbol

Deaths


- 701 - Pope Sergius I
- 1000 - Olaf I of Norway
- 1087 - King William I of England
- 1398 - King James I of Cyprus (b. 1334)
- 1487 - Chenghua, Emperor of China (b. 1447)
- 1488 - Francis II, Duke of Brittany (fell from a horse) (b. 1433)
- 1513 - King James IV of Scotland (b. 1473)
- 1569 - Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Flemish painter
- 1612 - Nakagawa Hidenari, Japanese warlord (b. 1570)
- 1680 - Henry Marten, English regicide (b. 1602)
- 1755 - Johann Lorenz von Mosheim, German historian (b. 1694)
- 1806 - William Paterson, Signer of the U.S. Constitution, Governor of New Jersey (b. 1745)
- 1815 - John Singleton Copley, American painter (b. 1738)
- 1841 - Augustin Pyrame de Candolle, Swiss botanist (b. 1778)
- 1891 - Jules Grévy, President of France (b. 1813)
- 1898 - Stéphane Mallarmé, French poet (b. 1842)
- 1901 - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, French painter (b. 1864)
- 1909 - Edward Henry Harriman, American railroad entrepreneur (b. 1848)
- 1915 - Albert Spalding, baseball player and sporting goods manufacturer (b. 1850)
- 1960 - Jussi Björling, Swedish tenor (b. 1911)
- 1976 - Mao Zedong, Chinese head of state (b. 1893)
- 1978 - Jack Warner, Canadian-born film studio founder (b. 1892)
- 1980 - John Howard Griffin, American writer (b. 1920)
- 1985 - Paul Flory, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
- 1990 - Doc Cramer, baseball player (b. 1905)
- 1990 - Samuel Doe, President of Liberia
- 1993 - Helen O'Connell, American singer (b. 1920)
- 1997 - Burgess Meredith, American actor (b. 1907)
- 1999 - Jim "Catfish" Hunter, baseball player (b. 1946)
- 2001 - Ahmed Shah Massoud, Afghani military leader
- 2003 - Larry Hovis, American actor (b. 1936)
- 2003 - Edward Teller, Hungarian-born physicist (b. 1908)
- 2005 - John Wayne Glover, the North Shore Granny Murderer, hanging suicide.

Holidays and observances


- Eastern Orthodoxy - Synaxis of the Theopatores Joachim and Anna
- Japan - ChrysanthemumDay (Kiku no Sekku)
- North Korea - Republic Day (1948)
- Tajikistan - Independence Day (from USSR, 1991)

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/9 BBC: On This Day] ---- September 8 - September 10 - August 9 - October 9 – listing of all days ko:9월 9일 ms:9 September ja:9月9日 simple:September 9 th:9 กันยายน

Scotland

Scotland (Alba in Gaelic) is a nation in northwest Europe and a constituent country of the United Kingdom. The name originally meant Land of the Gaels (see below). The country occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shares a land border to the south with England and is bounded by the North Sea on the east and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. Its capital city is Edinburgh. Despite no longer being an independent sovereign state, Scotland is still considered a country in its own right. Scotland existed as an independent Kingdom until 1 May 1707, when the Act of Union 1707 merged Scotland with the Kingdom of England to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. The flag of Scotland — the Saltire — is thought to be the oldest national flag still in use. The patron saint of Scotland is Saint Andrew, and Saint Andrew's Day is the 30 November. There are currently attempts to create an additional national holiday on this day.

Etymology

The English language name Scotland could date from at least the first half of the 10th century, when it was used in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The word Scot- was borrowed from Latin. We cannot assume Scotland was being used here to mean anything other than Land of the Gaels, just like Latin Scotia. Scottish kings adopted the title Basileus/Rex Scottorum (= High King/King of the Gaels) and Rex Scotiae (King of Gael-Land) some time in the 11th century. The earliest attribution of the latter Latin title was by the Germany-based Irish writer Marianus Scotus, recording the death of King Máel Coluim mac Cináeda as Moelcoluim Rex Scotiae, for the year 1034. In taking this title, they were likely influenced by the style Imperator Scottorum known to have been employed by Brian Bóruma in 1005. In the early 13th century, the Scotto-Norman author of de Situ Albanie protested that Scotia was a corrupt word for what should be called Albania; but by then Scotia was becoming the norm in Latin, French and English; and hence Scotia and its derivitives prevailed in all languages except the Celtic ones. The Kingdom of Scotland has traditionally been regarded as being united in 843, by Cináed mac Ailpín, King of the Picts, the man who is known to the modern English-speaker as King Kenneth I of Scotland.

History

See also the main article: History of Scotland. The written history of Scotland largely began with the arrival of the Roman Empire in Britain, when the Romans occupied what is now England and Wales, administering it as a Roman province called Britannia. To the north was territory not governed by the Romans—Caledonia, peopled by the Picts. From a classical historical viewpoint Scotland seemed a peripheral country, slow to gain advances filtering out from the Mediterranean fount of civilisation, but as knowledge of the past increases it has become apparent that some developments were earlier and more advanced than previously thought, and that the seaways were very important to Scottish history. The country's lengthy struggle with England, its more powerful neighbour to the south, was the cause of the Wars of Scottish Independence, forcing Scotland to rely on trade, cultural and often strategic ties with a number of European powers, most notably France. In these, the Scots repudiated the English king's assertions of paramountcy. They fought firstly under the leadership of Sir William Wallace and Andrew de Moray in support of John Balliol, and later under that of Robert the Bruce. Bruce, crowned as King Robert I in 1306, won a decisive victory over the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Battle of Bannockburn From roughly the end of the 14th century, Scotland began to show a split into two cultural areas — the mainly Scots, or English, speaking Lowlands, and the mainly Gaelic-speaking Highlands. Gaelic persisted in remote parts of the southwest, which had formed part of the rival kingdom of Galloway during the early medieval period, probably up until the late 1700s. Historically, the Lowlands were closer to the mainstream European culture, and adopted a variant of the feudal system after the Norman Conquest of England. A number of major families of Norman ancestry, such as the Bruce, Douglas, and Stewart families, provided most of the monarchs after approximately 1100. By comparison, the clan system of the Highlands formed one of the region's more distinctive features, with a number of powerful clans remaining dominant until after the Act of Union. It is worth noting that the Western Isles, along with Orkney and Shetland, were part of Norway until 1266 and 1468 respectively; the culture of these islands, in many ways, remained distinct from the rest of Scotland until the modern period. In 1603, the Scottish King James VI inherited the throne of England, and became James I of England. James moved to London, only returning to Scotland once. Although he subsequently styled himself as the King of Great Britain, this was a personal union: the two nations shared a head of state but remained separate kingdoms, with the exception of a brief period when Oliver Cromwell overthrew the monarchy and Scotland was under English military occupation. In 1707, the Scottish and English Parliaments enacted the Acts of Union, which merged the Kingdom of Scotland with the Kingdom of England, creating the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Union dissolved both the English and the Scottish Parliaments, and transferred all their powers to a new Parliament sitting in London which then became the Parliament of the United Kingdom. However, most of Scotland's institutions remained separate, notably the country's legal system and its established church; these distinctions remain to the present day. In 1801, Scotland became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, when the Kingdom of Great Britain merged with the Kingdom of Ireland. Since 1922, Scotland has been one of the four constituent nations (along with England, Northern Ireland and Wales) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In 1997 the people of Scotland voted to create a new devolved Scottish Parliament, subsequently established by the UK government under the Scotland Act 1998. Following the Act of Union and the subsequent Scottish Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution, Scotland became one of the commercial, intellectual and industrial powerhouses of Europe. Its industrial decline following the Second World War was particularly acute, but in recent decades the country has enjoyed something of a cultural and economic renaissance, fuelled in part by a resurgent financial services sector, the proceeds of North Sea oil and gas, and latterly the devolved parliament.

Geography

Clan Grant Main article: Geography of Scotland. Scotland comprises the northern part of the island of Great Britain; it is bordered on the south by England. Scotland's territorial extent is generally that established by the 1237 Treaty of York between Scotland and England and the 1266 Treaty of Perth between Scotland and Norway. Exceptions include the Isle of Man, which is now a crown dependency outside the United Kingdom, Orkney and Shetland, which are Scottish rather than Norwegian, and Berwick-upon-Tweed, which was defined as subject to the laws of England by the 1746 Wales and Berwick Act. The country consists of a mainland area plus several island groups, including Shetland, Orkney, and the Hebrides, divided into the Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides. Three main geographical and geological areas make up the mainland: from north to south, the generally mountainous Highlands containing Ben Nevis, Britain's highest mountain, the low-lying Central Belt, and the hilly Southern Uplands. The majority of the Scottish population resides in the Central Belt, which contains three of the country's six largest cities (Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Stirling) and many large towns. Most of the remaining population lives in the North-East Lowlands, where two of the remaining three cities (Aberdeen and Dundee) are situated. The final city, Inverness, is situated where the River Ness meets the Moray Firth, on the Great Glen Fault between the North-West Highlands and the Cairngorms. Highest maximum temperature: 32.9°C (91.2°F) at Greycrook, near Newtown St. Boswells, Borders on 9 August 2003. Lowest minimum temperature: -27.2°C (-17.0°F) at Braemar, Aberdeenshire on 11 February 1895 and 10 January 1982 and at Altnaharra, Highland on 30 December 1995. [http://www.metoffice.com/climate/uk/location/scotland/#temperature]

Major cities

The six designated cities in descending order of population size:
- Glasgow
- Edinburgh, the capital
- Aberdeen
- Dundee
- Inverness
- Stirling Scottish towns:
- List of burghs in Scotland

Waterways


- Major Rivers:
  - The Clyde, The Dee, The Don, The Forth, The Tay, The Tweed, The Spey, ...
- Firths:
  - Solway, Clyde, Cromarty, Dornoch, Forth, Lorne, Moray, Tay
- Sea Lochs (fjords):
  - Loch Linnhe, Loch Fyne, Loch Long, Loch Etive, Loch Sunart, Loch Nevis, Loch Hourn, Loch Broom, Loch Eil
- Freshwater Lochs (lakes) include:
  - Loch Ness, Loch Lomond, Loch Morar, Loch Tay, Loch Rannoch, Loch Awe, Loch Shiel, Loch Maree, The Lake of Menteith
- Artificial & Enhanced waterways include:
  - Caledonian Canal, Crinan Canal, Forth and Clyde Canal, Union Canal
    - See Also Falkirk Wheel

Geology

When vulcanism actively occurred in East Lothian, 350 million years ago, the rocks which now comprise Scotland lay close to the equator, and formed part of the newly amalgamated supercontinent of Pangaea. The continental plates making up Pangaea continued to converge, and a major collision occurred with the continent of Gondwana. The northern and southern parts of the island of Great Britain became adjoined only 75 million years before the onset of vulcanism in East Lothian. Before then, Scotland lay on the margin of the Laurentian continent, which included North America and Greenland. England and Wales lay some 40° of latitude further south, adjacent to Africa and South America in the Gondwanan continent. In the Early Ordovician, approximately 475 million years ago, England and Wales, on the Avalonian plate, rifted away from Gondwana and drifted northward towards Laurentia. The Iapetus Ocean, which separated the two land masses, began to close. By the mid-Silurian, about 420 million years ago, its margins had become attached along the Iapetus Suture, which roughly follows a line running West to East from the Solway Firth to Northumberland. When the later episode of vulcanism occurred, approximately 270 million years ago, Scotland still comprised part of Pangaea, but had drifted northward. East Lothian stood at about 8°North. Consolidation of Pangaea had continued so that the nearest ocean, the Tethys seaway, lay between Eurasia and Africa. Siccar Point in Berwickshire, Scotland, is where James Hutton (the "father" of modern geology) first observed this classic unconformity and recognized the meaning of stratigraphy.

Government and politics

Government

As one of the constituent parts of the United Kingdom, Scotland is represented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom in London. The Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh has the power to govern the country on Scotland-specific matters and has a limited power to vary income tax. The United Kingdom Parliament retains responsibility for Scotland's defence, international relations and certain other areas. The Scottish Parliament is not a sovereign authority, and the UK Parliament could, in theory, overrule or even abolish it at any time. For the purposes of local government, Scotland is divided into 32 unitary authority districts. Popular folk-memory continues to divide Scotland into 33 traditional counties.

Head of state

traditional counties]] Queen Elizabeth II, head of state of the United Kingdom, is descended from King James VI, King of Scots, the first Scottish monarch to also be King of England (James I, King of England from 1603). While great controversy has simmered amongst the Scottish public over her official title since her coronation (many believe that, being the first Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain, she should use the regnal name "Elizabeth I"), the courts of Scotland have confirmed "Elizabeth II" as her official title. She has said that in the future monarchs will follow the international ordinal tradition that, where a monarch reigns in a number of non-independent territories (or independent territories that agree to share a monarch) that each have a differing number of previous monarchs of the same name, the highest ordinal used in any of the territories is the one used across all (see List of regnal numerals of future British monarchs). Monarchs between 1603 and 1707, such as James VI and I and James VII and II, reigned over separate states and hence used a dual ordinal (see Personal union). Properly, the Scottish monarch was known as King of Scots or Queen of Scots, and referred to as "your Grace", rather than "your Majesty".

Scots Law

Scotland retains its own unique legal system, based on Roman law, which combines features of both civil law and common law. The terms of union with England specified the retention of separate systems. The barristers being called advocates, and the judges of the high court for civil cases are also the judges for the high court for criminal cases. Scots Law differs from England's common law system. Formerly, there were several regional law systems in Scotland, one of which was Udal Law (also called allodail or odal law) in Shetland and Orkney. This was a direct descendant of Old Norse Law, but was abolished in 1611. Despite this, Scottish courts have acknowledged the supremacy of udal law in some property cases as recently as the 1990s. There is a movement to restore udal law[http://www.udallaw.com/] to the islands as part of a devolution of power from Edinburgh to Shetland and Orkney. The laws regarding the nobility are also different in Scotland. Lords known as "Barons" in England are known as "Lords of Parliament." Gentlemen known as "Barons" in Scotland are not members of the House of Lords, as their titles (although still legitimate) are based on the old system of feudal baronies. Various systems based on common Celtic or Brehon Laws also survived in the Highlands until the 1800s.

Politics

See main article: Politics of Scotland, also Politics of the United Kingdom Politics of the United Kingdom Historically the politics of Scotland have reflected those of the UK as a whole, although with some differences. For example, besides the main UK-wide political parties (Labour, Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats) a number of Scottish-specific parties operate. These include the Scottish National Party (SNP) which is Scotland's second largest party and forms the main opposition in Parliament to the Labour-Liberal Democrats coalition, as well as the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) and the Scottish Green Party. These parties became more of a force in Scottish politics after the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1998. Unlike England, which has a more of a left/right split politically, the political right in Scotland is actually amongst the smallest political groupings with the four main Parties all coming from a mix of far-left to moderate-left philosophies. The traditional political divides of left and right have also intersected with arguments over devolution, which all the UK-wide parties have supported to some degree throughout their history (although both Labour and the Conservatives have swithered a number of times between supporting and opposing it). However, now that devolution has occurred, the main argument about Scotland's constitutional status remains between those who support Scottish independence and those who oppose it. Recent trends indicate, according to the Joseph Rowntree [http://www.jrrt.org.uk/FINDINGS.pdf Reform Trust "State of the Nation Poll"] 2004, that 66% of Scots would like the Scottish Parliament to have more powers, while only 2% would like to see the powers returned to the House of Commons and Whitehall, with 21% happy with the status quo.

Language

Scotland has three distinct languages: English, Gaelic, and Scots. Almost all Scots speak Scottish Standard English. It is estimated by the General Register Office for Scotland that 30% of the population are also fluent in Scots, a West Germanic language sister to the English language. Slightly more than 1% of the population are native Gaelic speakers, a Celtic language similar to Irish. Eilean Siar is the only unitary council region of Scotland where Gaelic is spoken by a majority of the population and that fact is reflected in the use of Gaelic in its official name. Almost all Gaelic speakers also speak fluent English. By the time of James VI's accession to the English throne, the old Scottish Court and Parliament spoke and wrote in Scots, also known as Lowland Scots or Lallans (although strictly speaking Lallans is a literary dialect of the Scots language). Scots is widely believed to have developed from the Northumbrian form of Anglo-Saxon, spoken in Bernicia which, in the 6th century, conquered the Brythonic kingdom of Gododdin (modern-day Lothian) and renamed its capital, Dunedin, to Edinburgh. The influence of settlers from the Low Countries and Norway in the east coast burghs founded from the reign of David I onwards was also an important factor in the development of the language, however. Scots contains a number of loanwords from Gaelic. Equally, there is a strong movement in the Aberdeen area to have Doric, the dialect of Scots spoken around Aberdeen, recognised as a language. In addition, there is a movement to revive Norn, a dialect of Old Norse which died out in the 19th century, on Orkney and Shetland. Town names on signs in Shetland are written in both languages. The Scottish Parliament recognises both English and Gaelic as official languages of Scotland, both receiving "equal respect" although not equal validity. Gaelic received official recognition through the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005. The Scots language was also officially recognised as a "regional or minority language" under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages ratified by the United Kingdom in 2001, and the Scottish Executive, has promised to provide support in their Partnership Agreement 2003. The [http://www.scotsdictionaries.org.uk/ Scottish Language Dictionaries] receive some state funding via the Scottish Arts Council.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Scotland Scotland has a civic and ethnic culture distinct from that of the rest of the British Isles. It originates from various differences, some entrenched as part of the Act of Union, others facets of nationhood not readily defined but readily identifiable.

Scottish education

The system of Education in Scotland is also separate, and has a distinctive history as the first country since Sparta in classical Greece to implement a system of general public education. The early roots were in the Education Act of 1496 which first introduced compulsory education for the eldest sons of nobles, then the principle of general public education was set with the Reformation establishment of the national Kirk which in 1561 set out a national programme for spiritual reform, including a school in every parish. In 1633 the Parliament of Scotland introduced a tax on local landowners to fund this, subsequently strengthened with the Education Act of 1696 which remained in force until 1872. The Act of Union guaranteed the rights of the Scottish universities and confirmed the position of the Kirk, maintaining Scotland's pre-eminence in public education. Education finally came under the control of the state rather than the Kirk and became compulsory for all children from the implementation of the Education Act of 1872 onwards. As a result, for over two hundred years Scotland had a higher percentage of its population educated at primary, secondary and tertiary levels than any other country in Europe. The differences in education have manifested themselves in different ways, but most noticeably in the number of Scots who went on to become leaders in their fields during the 18th and 19th centuries. The then-Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace stated in October 2004 that Scotland still produces a higher number of university and college graduates per head than anywhere else in Europe. School students in Scotland sit Standard Grade exams while students in England sit GCSE exams, and then a broad range of Higher Grade exams rather than becoming more specialised under the English A-level system. Following this, a Scottish university's honours degree takes four years of study as opposed to three in the rest of the UK. The university systems in several Commonwealth countries show marked affinities with the Scottish rather than the English system.

Banking and currency

Finance in Scotland also features unique characteristics. Although the Bank of England remains the central bank for the UK Government, three Scottish corporate banks still issue their own banknotes: (the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Clydesdale Bank). These notes have no status as legal tender in England, Wales or Northern Ireland; but in practice they are universally accepted throughout the UK (including in Northern Ireland, where Irish banks also issue their own banknotes), as well as in the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands). The Royal Bank of Scotland still produces a £1 note, unique amongst British banks. The full range of notes commonly accepted are £1, £5, £10, £20, £50 and £100. Bank of England currency is also accepted as legal currency in Scotland. (See British banknotes for further discussion) The only legal tender, by a strict definition, in Scotland is coinage of the Royal Mint (including gold); by statute, Bank of England notes below the value of £5 are legal tender, but none are currently circulating. No Bank of England notes in use, or any of the Scottish banknotes, are legal tender in Scotland. In practice this has little effect, as creditors are obliged to accept any "reasonable" attempt to settle a debt under Scots law. All four sets of banknotes are freely accepted in Scotland, and can be considered legal currency, though it is unusual for notes over £20 to be used in normal business. The pound Scots, which ceased being used with the Act of Union, is still sometimes invoked. Originally the same value as the pound sterling, today it is treated as being worth one-twelfth of a pound sterling, or eight and a third pence, the value it had in 1707. It only exists in a legal sense; generally in archaic laws or bequests, with values given either in pounds Scots or in merks, another archaic unit of currency. The merk, or mark, was worth around thirteen or fourteen shillings Scots — just over one English shilling. Both the Bank of Scotland and the Bank of England were founded by William Paterson of Dumfries. In addition the modern system of branch banking (in which banks maintain a nationwide system of offices rather than one or two central offices) originated in Scotland. Only strong political pressure during the 19th century prevented the resultant strong banking system from taking over banking in England. However, although Scottish banks proved unwelcome in England at the time, their business model became widely copied, firstly in England and later in the rest of the world. The Savings Bank movement was created in Scotland in 1810 by the Reverend Henry Duncan as a means of allowing his parishioners to save smaller amounts of money than the major banks would accept as deposits at that time. His model for the Ruthwell Parish Bank was adopted by well-to-do sponsors throughout the world, with most of the British savings banks eventually amalgamating to form the Trustee Savings Bank - more recently merged with the commercial bank, Lloyds Bank, to form Lloyds TSB - and the American examples becoming a Savings and Loan Association. See [http://www.savingsbanksmuseum.co.uk/] for further information.

Sport

Savings and Loan Association Scotland also has its own sporting competitions distinct from the rest of the UK, such as the Scottish Football League and the Scottish Rugby Union. This gives the country independent representation at many international sporting events such as the football World Cup and various rugby tournaments such as the Six Nations. Scotland cannot compete in the Olympic Games independently however, and Scottish athletes must compete as part of the Great Britain team if they wish to take part. Scotland does however send its own team to compete in the Commonwealth Games. Association Football is the most popular sport in the country, both played and watched. Innovations such as a passing style of play, a team working as a unit, half-time and free-kicks were introduced by Queen's Park F.C., all of which were later incorporated and remain in the modern game. Their Hampden Park home, the world's first and oldest international football stadium, holds several European attendance records including 149,415 watching a Scottish international. The Scottish Football Association is the second oldest national football association in the world, with the Scottish national football team playing and hosting the world's first ever international football match. The Scottish Cup is the world's oldest national trophy. The oldest professional football club in Scotland is Kilmarnock FC, founded in 1869. Scotland is considered the "Home of Golf", and is well known for its many courses, including the Old Course that is synonymous with the game. Established in 1754, The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews also codified the rules of golf. As well as its world famous Highland Games, where several traditional events such as the McGlashan stones are now common in world strongman events, Scotland has also given the world curling, and shinty, a stick game related to Ireland's hurling, and similar to England's field hockey. Whilst stereotypically seen as an English game, Scottish cricket has always had a large following throughout the country. Scottish cricketScottish professional rugby clubs compete in the Celtic League, along with teams from Ireland and Wales. However, the country retains a national league for amateur and semi-pro clubs. Shinty is run by the Camanachd Association and is played primarily in its Highland heartland, but also in most universities and cities. Kingussie have the distinction of appearing in the Guinness Book of Records as the most successful sporting team of all time, having won the league for twenty years in a row.

Media

Scotland has distinct media from the rest of the UK. For example, it produces many national newspapers such as Daily Record (Scotland's leading tabloid), The Herald broadsheet, based in Glasgow, and The Scotsman in Edinburgh. The Herald, formerly known as the Glasgow Herald, changed its name to promote a national rather than a regional identity, while The Scotsman, which used to be a broadsheet, recently switched to tabloid format. Sunday newspapers include the tabloid Sunday Mail (published by Daily Record parent company Trinity Mirror) and the Sunday Post, while the Sunday Herald and Scotland on Sunday have associations with The Herald and The Scotsman respectively. Regional dailies include The Courier and Advertiser in Dundee in the east, and The Press and Journal serving Aberdeen and the north. Scotland has its own BBC services which include the national radio stations, BBC Radio Scotland and Gaelic language service, BBC Radio nan Gaidheal. There are also a number of BBC and independent local radio stations throughout the country. In addition to radio, BBC Scotland also runs two national television stations. Much of the output of BBC Scotland Television, such as news and current affairs programmes, and the Glasgow-based soap opera, River City, are intended for broadcast within Scotland, whilst others, such as drama and comedy programmes, aim at audiences throughout the U