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January 27

January 27

January 27 is the 27th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 338 days remaining (339 in leap years).

Events

- 98 Trajan becomes Roman Emperor after the death of Nerva.
- 1186 - Henry VI, the son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, weds Constance of Sicily.
- 1343 - Pope Clement VI issues the Bull Unigenitus.
- 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, and ending in their execution on January 31.
- 1695 - Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan in Istanbul on the death of Amhed II. Mustafa ruled until 1703.
- 1785 - The University of Georgia is founded.
- 1825 - US Congress approves Indian Territory (in what is present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for forced relocation of the Eastern Indians on the "Trail of Tears."
- 1870 - The first college sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, is formed at DePauw University.
- 1880 - Thomas Edison files a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.
- 1888 - In Washington, DC the National Geographic Society is founded.
- 1900 - Boxer Rebellion: Foreign diplomats in Peking, China demand that the Boxer rebels be disciplined.
- 1909 - The Young Left is founded in Norway.
- 1915 - United States Marines occupy Haiti.
- 1926 - John Logie Baird demonstrates the first television broadcast.
- 1939 - The President of the United-States Franklin D. Roosevelt approves the sale of U.S. war planes to France.
- 1941 - World War II: Fighting at Derna, Libya, begins Following the capture of Tobruk 2 brigades of the 6th Australian Division under Major General Iven Mackay pursued the Italians westwards and encountered an Italian rear guard at Derna.
- 1943 - World War II: 50 bombers mount the first entirely American air raid against Germany, targeting Wilhelmshaven.
- 1944 - World War II: The two year Siege of Leningrad is lifted.
- 1945 - World War II: The Red Army arrives at Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland and find the Nazi concentration camp where 1.1-1.5 million people were murdered.
- 1951 - Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site begins with a one-kiloton bomb dropped on Frenchman Flats.
- 1967 - Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of the Apollo 1 spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center.
- 1967 - More than 60 nations sign the Outer Space Treaty banning nuclear weapons in space.
- 1973 - Paris Peace Accords officially end the Vietnam War.
- 1978 - Lt Marilyn R. Koon, 161st Aerial Refueling Squadron, Arizona Air National Guard, becomes first female Air National Guard Pilot.
- 1984 - Carl Lewis beats his own indoor world jumping record by 9-1/4 inches with a 28 feet, 10-1/4 inches jump.
- 1991 - Muhammad Siyad Barre flees his compound in Mogadishu.
- 1991 - Super Bowl XXV: The New York Giants defeat the Buffalo Bills, 20-19.
- 1992 - Mike Tyson goes on trial charged with raping a 1991 Miss Black America contestant.
- 1996 - Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara deposes the first democratically elected president of Niger, Mahamane Ousmane, in a military coup.
- 1997 - It is revealed that French museums have nearly 2,000 pieces of art that were stolen by Nazis.
- 1998 - American First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton appears on the Today Show calling the attacks against her husband part of a "vast right-wing conspiracy."
- 2002 - Several explosions at a military dump in Lagos, Nigeria kill more than 1,000.

Births

- 1443 - Albert, Duke of Saxony (d. 1500)
- 1546 - Joachim Friedrich, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1608)
- 1585 - Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (d. 1634)
- 1603 - Harbottle Grimston, English politician (d. 1685)
- 1662 - Richard Bentley, English classical scholar (d. 1742)
- 1687 - Balthasar Neumann, German architect (d. 1753)
- 1701 - Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim, German historian and theologian (d. 1790)
- 1720 - Samuel Foote, English dramatist and actor (d. 1777)
- 1741 - Hester Thrale, Welsh diarist (d. 1821)
- 1756 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer (d. 1791)
- 1805 - Samuel Palmer, English artist (d. 1881)
- 1806 - Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, Spanish composer (d. 1826)
- 1814 - Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect (d. 1879)
- 1823 - Edouard Lalo, French composer (d. 1892)
- 1826 - Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian writer (d. 1889)
- 1826 - Richard Taylor, American Confederate general (d. 1879)
- 1832 - Lewis Carroll, English author (d. 1898)
- 1836 - Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Austrian writer (d. 1895)
- 1848 - Togo Heihachiro, Japanese admiral (d. 1934)
- 1850 - Samuel Gompers, American labor leader (d. 1924)
- 1850 - Edward J. Smith, English captain of the Titanic (d. 1912)
- 1859 - Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany (d. 1941)
- 1885 - Jerome Kern, American composer (d. 1945)
- 1885 - Eduard Künnecke, German composer (d. 1953)
- 1885 - Harry Ruby, American musician, composer, and writer (d. 1974)
- 1891 - Ilya Ehrenburg, Russian writer (d. 1967)
- 1900 - Hyman Rickover, American admiral (d. 1986)
- 1901 - Art Rooney, American football team owner (d. 1988)
- 1903 - John Carew Eccles, Australian neuropsychologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1997)
- 1905 - Howard McNear, American actor (d. 1969)
- 1908 - Oran "Hot Lips" Page, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1954)
- 1918 - Skitch Henderson, English-born bandleader (d. 2005)
- 1919 - Ross Bagdasarian, American musician and actor (d. 1972)
- 1920 - Helmut Zacharias, German violinist (d. 2002)
- 1921 - Donna Reed, American actress (d. 1986)
- 1924 - Sabu, Indian actor (d. 1963)
- 1926 - Fritz Spiegl, Austrian-born journalist (d. 2003)
- 1929 - Gastón Suárez, Bolivian novelist and dramatist (d. 1984)
- 1930 - Bobby Blue Bland, American singer
- 1931 - Mordecai Richler, Canadian author (d. 2001)
- 1936 - Troy Donahue, American actor (d. 2001)
- 1936 - Samuel C. C. Ting, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1937 - John Ogdon, English pianist (d. 1989)
- 1940 - James Cromwell, American actor
- 1944 - Mairéad Corrigan, Irish activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- 1944 - Nick Mason, English drummer (Pink Floyd)
- 1945 - Harold Cardinal, Cree political leader, writer, and lawyer (d. 2005)
- 1946 - Nedra Talley, American singer (Ronettes)
- 1948 - Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian dancer
- 1950 - Amos Grunebaum, Israeli-born obstetrician and gynecologist
- 1955 - John Roberts, Chief Justice of the United States
- 1956 - Mimi Rogers, American actress
- 1957 - Janick Gers, English musician (Iron Maiden)
- 1959 - Keith Olbermann, American journalist and sportscaster
- 1964 - Bridget Fonda, American actress
- 1965 - Alan Cumming, Scottish actor
- 1968 - Mike Patton, American singer
- 1968 - Tricky, English rapper
- 1971 - Fann Wong, Singapore actress, model, and singer (Shanghai Knights)
- 1972 - Keith Wood, Irish rugby player
- 1974 - Chaminda Vaas, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1979 - Daniel Vettori, New Zealand cricketer
- 1980 - Marat Safin, Russian tennis player

Deaths

- 98 - Nerva, Roman Emperor (b. 35)
- 1490 - Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Japanese shogun (b. 1435)
- 1629 - Hieronymus Praetorius, German composer (b. 1560)
- 1638 - Gonzalo de Céspedes y Meneses, Spanish novelist
- 1731 - Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian maker of musical instruments (b. 1655)
- 1740 - Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon, Prime Minister of France (b. 1692)
- 1814 - Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher (b. 1761)
- 1816 - Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, British admiral (b. 1724)
- 1851 - John James Audubon, French-American naturalist, ornithologist, and painter (b. 1785)
- 1860 - János Bolyai, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1860)
- 1880 - Edward Middleton Barry, English architect (b. 1830)
- 1901 - Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer (b. 1813)
- 1910 - Thomas Crapper, English plumber (b. 1836)
- 1919 - Endre Ady, Hungarian poet (b. 1877)
- 1940 - Isaac Babel, Ukrainian writer (b. 1894)
- 1956 - Erich Kleiber, German conductor (b. 1890)
- 1967 - Crew of Apollo 1:
- Roger Chaffee (b. 1935)
- Virgil "Gus" Grissom (b. 1926)
- Edward White (b. 1930)
- 1970 - Rita Angus, New Zealand painter (b. 1908)
- 1971 - Jacobo Arbenz, President of Guatemala (b. 1913)
- 1972 - Mahalia Jackson, American singer (b. 1911)
- 1975 - Bill Walsh, American producer and writer (b. 1913)
- 1986 - Lilli Palmer, German-born actress (b. 1914)
- 1988 - Massa Makan Diabaté, Malian author (b. 1938)
- 1989 - Thomas Sopwith, British aviation pioneer (b. 1888)
- 1992 - Allan Jones, actor and singer (b. 1908)
- 1993 - André the Giant, professional wrestler and actor (b. 1946)
- 1994 - Claude Akins, American actor (b. 1918)
- 1996 - Ralph Yarborough, American politician (b. 1903)
- 2004 - Jack Paar, American television show host (b. 1918)

Holidays and observances

- United Kingdom — Holocaust Memorial Day.
- Germany — Gedenktag für die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus (Commemoration Day for the Victims of National Socialism).
- Poland — Dzień Pamięci Ofiar Nazizmu (Memorial Day for the Victims of Nazism).
- Italy — Giorno della Memoria (Memorial Day).
- Catholicism — Catholic Schools Week.
- Serbia — St. Sava Day

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/27 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.tnl.net/when/1/27 Today in History: January 27] ---- January 26 - January 28 - December 27 - February 27 — listing of all days ko:1월 27일 ms:27 Januari ja:1月27日 simple:January 27 th:27 มกราคม

January 27

January 27 is the 27th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 338 days remaining (339 in leap years).

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

Leap year

A leap year (or intercalary year) is a year containing an extra day or month in order to keep the calendar year in sync with an astronomical or seasonal year. Seasons and astronomical events do not repeat at an exact number of days, so a calendar which had the same number of days in each year would over time drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. By occasionally inserting (or intercalating) an additional day or month into the year, the drift can be corrected. Leap years (which keep the calendar in sync with the year) should not be confused with leap seconds (which keep clock time in sync with the day).

Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar, the current standard calendar in most of the world, adds a 29th day to February in all years evenly divisible by 4, except for century years (those ending in -00), which receive the extra day only if they are evenly divisible by 400. Thus 1996 was a leap year whereas 1999 was not, and 1600, 2000 and 2400 are leap years but 1700, 1800, 1900 and 2100 are not. The reasoning behind this rule is as follows:
- The Gregorian calendar is designed to keep the vernal equinox on or close to March 21, so that the date of Easter (celebrated on the Sunday after the 14th day of the Moon that falls on or after 21 March) remains correct with respect to the vernal equinox.
- The vernal equinox year is currently about 365.242375 days long.
- The Gregorian leap year rule gives an average year length of 365.2425 days. This difference of a little over 0.0001 days means that in around 8,000 years, the calendar will be about one day behind where it should be. But in 8,000 years' time the length of the vernal equinox year will have changed by an amount we can't accurately predict (see below). So the Gregorian leap year rule does a good enough job. Image:Gregoriancalendarleap.png

Which day is the leap day?

The Gregorian calendar is a modification of the Julian calendar first used by the Romans. The Roman calendar originated as a lunar calendar (though from the 5th century BC it no longer followed the real moon) and named its days after three of the phases of the moon: the new moon (calends, hence "calendar"), the first quarter (nones) and the full moon (ides). Days were counted down (inclusively) to the next named day, so 24 February was ante diem sextum calendas martii ("the sixth day before the calends of March"). Since 45 BC, February in a leap year had two days called "the sixth day before the calends of March". The extra day was originally the second of these, but since the third century it was the first. Hence the term bissextile day for 24 February in a bissextile year. Where this custom is followed, anniversaries after the inserted day are moved in leap years. For example, the former feast day of Saint Matthias, 24 February in ordinary years, would be 25 February in leap years. This historical nicety is, however, in the process of being discarded: The European Union declared that, starting in 2000, 29 February rather than 24 February would be leap day, and the Roman Catholic Church also now uses 29 February as leap day. The only tangible difference is felt in countries that celebrate feast days.

Julian calendar

The Julian calendar adds an extra day to February in years divisible by 4. This rule gives an average year length of 365.25 days. The excess of about 0.0076 days with respect to the vernal equinox year means that the vernal equinox moves a day earlier in the calendar every 130 years or so.

Revised Julian Calendar

The Revised Julian calendar adds an extra day to February in years divisible by 4, except for years divisible by 100 that do not leave a remainder of 200 or 600 when divided by 900. This rule agrees with the rule for the Gregorian calendar until 2799. The first year that dates in the Revised Julian calendar will not agree with the those in the Gregorian calendar will be 2800, because it will be a leap year in the Gregorian calendar but not in the Revised Julian calendar. This rule gives an average year length of 365.242222… days. This is a very good approximation to the mean tropical year, but because the vernal equinox tropical year is slightly longer, the Revised Julian calendar does not do as good a job as the Gregorian calendar of keeping the vernal equinox on or close to 21 March.

Chinese calendar

The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, so a leap year has an extra month, often called an embolismic month after the Greek word for it. In the Chinese calendar the leap month is added according to a complicated rule, which ensures that month 11 is always the month that contains the northern winter solstice. The intercalary month takes the same number as the preceding month; for example, if it follows the second month then it is simply called "leap second month".

Hebrew calendar

The Hebrew calendar is also lunisolar with an embolistic month. In the Hebrew calendar the extra month is called Adar Alef (first Adar) and is added before Adar, which then becomes Adar Sheni (second Adar). According to the Metonic cycle, this is done seven times every nineteen years, specifically, in years, 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19. In addition, the Hebrew calendar has postponement rules that postpone the start of the year by one or two days. The year before the postponement gets one or two extra days, and the year whose start is postponed loses one or two days. These postponement rules reduce the number of different combinations of year length and starting day of the week from 28 to 14, and regulate the location of certain religious holidays in relation to the Sabbath.

Hindu Calendar

In the Hindu calendar, which is a lunisolar calendar, the embolismic month is called adhika maas (extra month). It is the month in which the sun is in the same sign of the stellar zodiac on two consecutive dark moons.

Iranian calendar

The Iranian calendar also has a single intercalated day once in every four years, but every 33 years or so the leap years will be five years apart instead of four years apart. The system used is more accurate and more complicated, and is based on the time of the March equinox as observed from Teheran. The 33-year period is not completely regular; every so often the 33-year cycle will be broken by a cycle of 29 or 37 years.

Long term leap year rules

The accumulated difference between the Gregorian calendar and the vernal equinoctial year amounts to 1 day in about 8,000 years. This suggests that the calendar needs to be improved by another refinement to the leap year rule: perhaps by avoiding leap years in years divisible by 8,000. (The most common such proposal is to avoid leap years in years divisible by 4,000 [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22gregorian+calendar%22+error+%22leap+year%22+4000]. This is based on the difference between the Gregorian calendar and the mean tropical year. Others claim, erroneously, that the Gregorian calendar itself already contains a refinement of this kind [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mleapyr.html].) However, there is little point in planning a calendar so far ahead because over a timescale of tens of thousands of years the number of days in a year will change for a number of reasons, most notably: #Precession of the equinoxes moves the position of the vernal equinox with respect to perihelion and so changes the length of the vernal equinoctial year. #Tidal acceleration from the sun and moon slows the rotation of the earth, making the day longer. In particular, the second component of change depends on such things as post-glacial rebound and sea level rise due to climate change. We can't predict these changes accurately enough to be able to make a calendar that will be accurate to a day in tens of thousands of years.

Marriage proposal

There is a tradition, said to go back to Saint Patrick and Saint Bridget in 5th century Ireland, whereby women may only make marriage proposals in leap years.

Saint Patrick and the leap year

:Saint Patrick, having driven the frogs out of the bogs was walking along the shores of Lough Neagh, when he was accosted by Saint Bridget in tears, and was told that a mutiny had broken out in the nunnery over which she presided, the ladies claiming the right of popping the question. :Saint Patrick said he would concede them the right every seventh year, when Saint Bridget threw her arms round his neck, and exclaimed, "Arrah, Pathrick, jewel, I daurn't go back to the girls wid such a proposal. Make it one year in four." Saint Patrick replied, "Bridget, acushla, squeeze me that way again, an' I'll give ye leap-year, the longest of the lot." Saint Bridget, upon this, popped the question to St Patrick himself, who, of course, could not marry: so he patched up the difficulty as best he could with a kiss and a silk gown. (Source: Evans, Ivor H, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Cassell, London, 1988) According to a 1288 law in Scotland, fines were levied if the proposal was refused by the man; compensation ranged from a kiss to a silk gown to soften the blow. Because men felt that put them at too great a risk, the tradition was in some places tightened to restricting female proposals to 29 February.

Birthdays

A person who was born on 29 February may be called a "leapling". In non-leap years they usually celebrate their birthday on 28 February or 1 March. There are many instances in children's literature where a person's claim to be only a quarter of their actual age turns out be based on counting their leap-year birthdays. A similar device is used in the plot of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance. Category:Calendars Category:Units of time als:Schaltjahr ko:윤년 ja:閏年 simple:Leap year th:ปีอธิกสุรทิน

Trajan

Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus (September 18, 53 – August 9, 117), Roman Emperor (98-117), commonly called Trajan, was the second of the so-called "Five Good Emperors" of the Roman Empire. Under his rule, the Empire reached its greatest territorial extent.

Early life and rise to power

Trajan was the son of M. Ulpius Traianus, a prominent senator and general from the famous gens Ulpia. The family had settled in the province of Hispania Baetica in what is now Andalusia, a province that was as utterly Romanized as southern Hispania. Trajan himself was just one of many well-known Ulpii in a line that continued long after his own death. He was born on September 18 53, in the city of Italica. As a young man, he rose through the ranks of the Roman army, serving in some of the most contentious parts of the Empire's frontier, along the Rhine River. He took part in the Emperor Domitian's wars against the Germanic tribes, and was known as one of the foremost military commanders of the Empire when Domitian was killed in 96. His renown served him well under Domitian's successor, Nerva, who was unpopular with the army and needed to do something to gain their support. He accomplished this by naming Trajan as his adoptive son and successor in the summer of 97. It was the future Emperor Hadrian who brought word to Trajan of his adoption, and thus had Trajan's favour for the rest of his life. When Nerva died on January 27 98, the highly respected Trajan succeeded without incident, making him the first non-Italian Roman to become Emperor. Italian The new emperor was greeted by the people of Rome with great enthusiasm, which he justified by governing well and without the bloodiness that had marked Domitian's reign. He freed many people who had been unjustly imprisoned by Domitian and returned a great deal of private property which Domitian had confiscated; a process begun by Nerva before his death. His popularity was such that the Roman Senate eventually bestowed upon Trajan the honorific of optimus, meaning "the best".

Dacian Wars

Dacian Wars Dacian Wars But it was as a military commander that Trajan is best known to history. In 101, he launched a punitive expedition into the kingdom of Dacia, on the northern bank of the Danube River, and forced King Decebalus to submit to him a year later, after Trajan took the Dacian capital of Sarmizegetusa. Trajan then returned to Rome in triumph and was granted the title Dacicus Maximus. However, Decebalus soon began stirring up trouble on the frontier again, trying to get the neighboring kingdoms of the north bank of the Danube to join him. Trajan again took the field, with his engineers building a massive bridge over the Danube, and conquered Dacia completely in 106. Sarmizegetusa was destroyed, Decebalus committed suicide and Trajan built a new city, "Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa", on another site than the previous Dacian Capital, although bearig the same name, Sarmizegetusa. He resettled Dacia with Romans and annexed it as a province of the Roman Empire.

Expansion in the East

At about the same time, one of Rome's client kings, the last king of Nabatea, Rabbel II Soter, died. This might have prompted Trajan's annextion of Nabatea, although the reasons for annexation are not known, nor is the exact manner of annexation. Some epigraphic evidence suggests a military operation, with forces from Syria and Aegyptus. What is clear, however, is that by 107, Roman legions where stationed in the area around Petra and Bostra, as is showh by a papyri found in Egypt. The Empire gained what became the province of Arabia Petraea (modern southern Jordan and a small part of Saudi Arabia).

A period of peace

Saudi Arabia For the next seven years, Trajan ruled as a civilian emperor, to the same acclaim as before. It was during this time that he corresponded with Pliny the Younger on the subject of how to deal with the Christians of Pontus, basically telling Pliny to leave them alone unless they were openly practicing the religion. He built several new buildings, monuments and roads in Italia and his native Hispania. His magnificent forum, including Trajan's Column, raised to commemorate his victories in Dacia, still stands in Rome today, as does a triumphal arch in Mérida, which in Trajan's time was the major city of Lusitania.

The Empire at its maximum extent

Lusitania In 113, he embarked on his last campaign, provoked by Parthia's decision to put an unacceptable king on the throne of Armenia, a kingdom over which the two great empires had shared hegemony since the time of Nero some fifty years earlier. Trajan marched first on Armenia, deposed the king and annexed it to the Roman Empire. Then he turned south into Parthia itself, taking the cities of Babylon, Seleucia and finally the capital of Ctesiphon in 116. He continued southward to the Persian Gulf, whence he declared Mesopotamia a new province of the Empire and lamented that he was too old to follow in the steps of Alexander the Great. But he did not stop there. Later in 116, he captured the great city of Susa. He deposed the Parthian king Osroes I and put his own puppet ruler Parthamaspates on the throne. Never again would the Roman Empire advance so far to the east. It was at this point that the fortunes of war — and his own health — betrayed Trajan. The fortress city of Hatra, on the Tigris in his rear, continued to hold out against repeated Roman assaults. He was personally present at the siege and it is possible that he suffered a heat stroke while in the blazing heat. The Jews inside the Roman Empire rose up in rebellion once more, as did the people of Mesopotamia. Trajan was forced to withdraw his army in order to put down the revolts. Trajan saw it as simply a temporary setback, but he was destined never to command an army in the field again. Late in 116, while resting in the province of Cilicia and planning another war against Parthia, Trajan grew ill. His health declined throughout the spring and summer of 117, until he finally died from edema on August 9. On his deathbed, he named Hadrian as his successor. Hadrian, upon becoming ruler, returned Mesopotamia to Parthian rule. However, all the other territories conquered by Trajan were retained.

Trajan legacy

For the remainder of the history of the Roman Empire and well into the era of the Byzantine Empire, every new emperor after Trajan was honored by the Senate with the prayer felicior Augusto, melior Traiano, meaning "may he be luckier than Augustus and better than Trajan". Unlike many lauded rulers in history, Trajan's reputation has survived undiminished for nearly nineteen centuries. The Christianization of Rome resulted in further embellishment of his legend: it was commonly said in medieval times that Pope Gregory I, through divine intercession, resurrected Trajan from the dead and baptized him into the Christian faith. In the Divine Comedy, Dante, following this legend, sees the spirit of Trajan in the Heaven of Jupiter with other historical and mythological persons noted for their justice. The equestrian bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius (the only surviving Roman equestrian statue, now on the Campidoglio) was preserved because in the Middle Ages it was thought to represent Trajan.

References

- J.F.C. Fuller. A Military History of the Western World. Three Volumes. New York: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1987 and 1988.
- v. 1. From the earliest times to the Battle of Lepanto; ISBN 0306803046: 255, 266, 269, 270, 273 (Trajan, Roman Emperor).
- Ancell, R. Manning. "Soldiers." Military Heritage. December 2001. Volume 3, No. 3: 12, 14, 16, 20 (Trajan, Emperor of Rome).
- Bennett, J., Trajan: Optimus Princeps, 2nd Edition, Routledge 2001
- Bowersock, G.W., Roman Arabia, Harvard University Press, 1983
- Isaac, B., The Limits of Empire, The Roman Army in the East, Revised Edition, Oxford University Press, 1990
- Kennedy, D., The Roman Army in Jordan, Revised Edition, Council for British Research in the Levant, 2004 Category:53 births Category:117 deaths Category:Characters in the Divine Comedy Category:Nerva-Antonine Dynasty Category:Roman emperors ko:트라이아누스 ja:トラヤヌス

1186

Events

- John the Chanter becomes Bishop of Exeter.
- January 27 - Constance of Sicily marries Henry (the future Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor).
- The Byzantine Empire recognises the indepence of Bulgaria.
- Guy of Lusignan becomes King of Jerusalem.

Births

- May 18 - Konstantin of Rostov, Prince of Novgorod (d. 1218)
- Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk (died 1225)
- Iziaslav IV Vladimirovich, Grand Prince of Kiev

Deaths

- May 29 or June 23 or June 24 - Robert of Torigni
- August 19 - Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany (born 1158)
- Baldwin V of Jerusalem (born 1177)
- William of Tyre, Archbishop of Tyre
- Minamoto no Yukiie, Japanese warlord Category:1186 ko:1186년

Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (November 1165, Nijmegen – September 28, 1197, Messina) was king of Germany 1190-1197, and Holy Roman Emperor 1191-1197. Henry was the son of the emperor Frederick Barbarossa and Beatrix of Burgundy, and was crowned King of the Romans at Bamberg in June 1169, at the age of four. After having taken the reins of the Empire from his father, engaged in the Crusade, in 1189-1190 he suppressed a revolt of Henry the Lion, former duke of Saxony and Bavaria and relative of Frederick. Constance of Sicily was betrothed to Henry in 1184, and they were married on January 27, 1186. Constance was the sole legitimate heir of William II of Sicily, and, after the death of the latter in November 1189, Henry found the possibility to add the Sicilian crown to the Imperial one, as his father had also died in Syria in June 1190. In the April of 1191, in Rome, Henry and Constance were crowned Emperor and Empress by Pope Celestine III. The crown of Sicily, however, was to be harder to gain, as the barons of southern Italy had chosen a local relative of the Norman ruling family, Tancred, count of Lecce, as their king. Henry began his work besieging Naples, but he had to leave the siege after his army had been decimated by a plague and the Salernitane had taken prisoner his wife, bringing her to Tancred. Moreover, Henry the Lion had revolted again forcing him to return to Northern Germany in the August of that year. His difficulties soon diseappeared when the duke of Austria Leopold gave him his prisoner, the king of England Richard I. Henry managed to receive from the English a ransom of 150,000 silver marks, a huge sum for that age, and with this money cuold attend with a powerful army the conquest of southern Italy. Henry was granted free passage in Northern Italy signing with the Italian communes a treaty in January 1194, and in the following April he also settled the question with Henry the Lion. In February Tancred died, leaving as heir a 7 year old boy, William III. Henry met little resistance and entered in Palermo, capital city of the Kingdom of Sicily, on November 20, and was crowned on December 25. He also had the young William blinded and castrated, while many Sicilian nobles were burned alive. At that point he was the most powerful monarch of the Mediterranean and Europe, since the Kingdom of Sicily added to his personal and Imperial revenues an income of money without parallel in Europe. Henry felt strong enough to send back home the Pisane and Genoese ships without giving their governments the promised concessions in Southern Italy, and even got a tribute from the Byzantine Empire. In 1194 he was born a son, Frederick, the future emperor and king of Sicily and Jerusalem. Henry secured his position in Italy naming his friend Conrad of Urslingen as duke of Spoleto and giving the Marche to Markward of Anweiler. His next aim was to make the Imperial crown also hereditary. At the Diet of Würzburg held in April 1196 he managed to convince the majority of the princes to vote for his proposal, but in the following one at Erfurt (October 1196), he did not score the same favourable result. In 1197 the tyrannic power of the foreign King in Italy spurred a revolt, especially in southern Sicily where the Arab were the majority of the pupulation, but his German soldiers suppressed it mercilessly. In the same year Henry felt himself ready for a Crusade, but, on September 28, he died of malaria in Messina. Henry was fluent in Latin, and, according to Alberic of Troisfontaines, was "distinguished by gifts of knowledge, wreathed in flowers of eloquence, and learned in canon and Roman law." He was a patron of prophets and poetry, and probably composed the song "Kaiser Heinrich" that is now among the Weingarten Song Manuscripts.

Sources

- Alberic of Troisfontaines, Chronicon
- David Abulafia, Frederick II

Parentage and children

Frederick II of Swabia	Judith of Bavaria	Renald III of Burgundy	Agatha of Lorraine
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor		Beatrix of Burgundy
Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Spouse(s)		Children
Constance of Sicily		Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor Category:Holy Roman emperors Category:German Kings Category:Kings of Burgundy ja:ハインリヒ6世

Constance of Sicily

Constance of Sicily (1154 – November 27, 1198) was in her own right Queen of Sicily, became German Empress as the wife of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, and was the mother of the Emperor and King of Sicily Frederick II. She was the posthumous daughter of Roger II of Sicily by his third wife Beatrice of Rethel. Constance was not betrothed until she was 30, which is unusual for a princess whose marriage was an important bargaining chip. This later gave rise to stories that she had become a nun and required papal dispensation to forsake her vows and marry, or that she was impossibly ugly. Neither of these is consistent with the evidence. The death of her nephew Henry of Capua in 1172 made Constance heiress presumptive to the Sicilian crown. Her elder nephew King William II was himself unmarried. He did not marry until 1177, and that marriage remained childless. But it is unclear why he delayed so in finding a husband for his aunt. Nor it is clear precisely why in the end he chose Henry, the son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I. The Sicilian kings and the German Emperors had long been enemies, and the papacy, also an enemy of the emperors, would not want to see the great kingdom to the south of Rome in German hands. Nor would the kingdom's nobles welcome such a possibility. Nevertheless, in 1184 Constance was betrothed to Henry (the future Emperor Henry VI), and they were married two years later, on January 27, 1186. William made his nobles and the important men of his court promise to recognize Constance's succession if he died without direct heirs. But after his unexpected death in 1189, his cousin (and Constance's grand-nephew) Tancred seized the throne. Tancred was illegitimate, but he had the support of most of the great men of the kingdom. Constance's father-in-law died in 1190, and the following year Henry and Constance were crowned Emperor and Empress. Henry was already preparing to invade Sicily when Tancred died in 1194. Later that year he moved south, deposed Tancred's young son William III, and had himself crowned instead. While Henry moved quickly south with his army, Constance followed at a slower pace, for she was pregnant. On December 26, the day after Henry's crowning at Palermo, she gave birth to a son, Frederick (the future Emperor and king of Sicily Frederick II) in the small town of Jesi, near Ancona. Constance was 40, and she knew that many would question whether the child was really hers. Thus she had the baby in a pavilion tent in the market square of the town, and invited the town matrons to witness the birth. A few days later she returned to the town square and publicly breast-fed the infant. Henry died in 1197, and Constance returned to Sicily. She had the 3-year-old Frederick crowned King of Sicily, and in his name dissolved the ties her late husband had created between the government of Sicily and of the Empire. She also renounced his claims to the German kingship and empire, and placed him under the protection of pope Innocent III. She expected him to be raised as a Sicilian, and to be nothing more than King of Sicily. That he became much more than that could not be predicted when she died a year later, in 1198. ----- Dante places Constance in Paradise (though he subscribed to the story that Constance had been a nun): ::"This other radiance that shows itself ::to you at my right hand, a brightness kindled ::by all the light that fills our heaven-- she
::has understood what I have said: she was ::a sister, and from her head, too, by force, ::the shadow of the sacred veil was taken.
::But though she had been turned back to the world ::against her will, against all honest practice, ::the veil upon her heart was never loosed.
::This is the splendor of the great Costanza, ::who from the Swabians' second gust engendered ::the one who was their third and final power." ::::—Paradiso, Canto III, lines 109-120, Mandelbaum translation

References

- Walter Frölich, "The Marriage of Henry VI and Constance of Sicily: Prelude and Consequences", Anglo-Norman Studies XV, 1992
- Donald Matthew, The Norman Kingdom of Sicily, ISBN 0-521-26911-3
- John Julius Norwich, The Kingdom in the Sun, reprinted as part of his The Normans in Sicily, ISBN 0-14-015212-1 Constance of Sicily Constance of Sicily Category:Hohenstaufen Dynasty Category:Kings of Sicily Category:Characters in the Divine Comedy ja:コスタンツァ

1343

Events

- Magnus II of Sweden abdicates from the throne of Norway in favor of his son Haakon VI of Norway. However Haakon is still a minor, allowing Magnus to be the de facto ruler.
- January 27, Pope Clement VI issues his Bull Unigenitus, defining the doctrine of "The Treasury of Merits" or "The Treasury of the Church" as the basis for the issuance of indulgences by the Catholic Church.

Births

- Alexander Stewart, 1st Earl of Buchan (died 1394)
- Geoffrey Chaucer, English poet (approximate date) (died 1400)
- Emperor Chokei of Japan (died 1394)
- Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester, English rebel (died 1403)

Deaths

- December 15 - Hasan Kucek, Chobanid prince
- Sir Ulick Burke, Irish nobleman
- Aimone of Savoy Category:1343 ko:1343년

1606

Events

- January 27 - The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins ending in their execution on January 31
- May 17 - Supporters of Vasili Shusky invade the Kremlin and kill Premier Dmitri
- December 26 - Shakespeare's King Lear performed in court
- Storm buries a village of St Ismail's near modern-day Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, Britain
- The Treaty of Zsitva-Torok ends the Long War between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans in Hungary. The independence of Transylvania is recognized by both sides and Austria's annual tribute to the Ottoman Empire is abolished.
- First Union Flag created.
- The Jesuit Joannis Stribingius visits Latvia, describes Latvian mythology

Births

- February 12 - John Winthrop, the Younger, Governor of Connecticut (died 1676)
- March 3 - Edmund Waller, English poet (died 1687)
- May 23 - Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz, Spanish writer (d. 1682)
- May 25 - Saint Charles Garnier, Jesuit missionary (died 1649)
- June 6 - Pierre Corneille, French author (died 1684)
- June 16 - Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall, Irish soldier (died 1675)
- June 19 - James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, Scottish statesman (died 1649)
- July 15 - Rembrandt, Dutch painter (died 1669)
- September 22 - Li Zicheng, Chinese rebel (died 1645)
- November 12 - Jeanne Mance, French settler in Montreal (died 1673)
- Richard Busby, English clergyman (died 1695)
- Leonard Calvert, governor of Baltimore (died 1647)
- Edmund Castell, English orientalist (died 1685)
- William Davenant, English poet and playwright (died 1668)
- Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester (died 1680)
- Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi, Italian architect and painter (died 1680)
- Thomas Harrison, English puritan soldier and Fifth Monarchist (died 1660)
- Thomas Herbert, English traveller and historian (died 1682)
- John Robartes, 1st Earl of Radnor (died 1685)
- Pierre du Ryer, French dramatist (died 1658)
- Joachim von Sandrart, German art-historian and painter (died 1688)
- Tokugawa Tadanaga, Japanese nobleman (died 1633)
- Thomas Washbourne, English clergyman and poet (died 1687) See also :Category:1606 births.

Deaths

- January 30 - Everard Digby, English conspirator (executed) (born 1578)
- January 30 - Robert Wintour, English conspirator (executed) (born 1565)
- January 31 - Guy Fawkes, English conspirator (executed) (born 1570)
- January 31 - Ambrose Rokewood, English conspirator (executed)
- January 31 - Thomas Wintour, English conspirator (executed) (born 1571)
- March 23 - Justus Lipsius, Flemish humanist (born 1547)
- April 3 - Charles Blount, 1st Earl of Devon, English politician (born 1563)
- May 3 - Henry Garnet, English Jesuit missionary (born 1555)
- October 5 - Philippe Desportes, French poet (born 1546)
- November 13 - Geronimo Mercuriali, Italian philologist and physician (b. 1530)
- November 20 - (burial date) John Lyly, English writer (born 1553)
- François de Bar, French scholar (born 1538)
- False Dmitry I, pretender to the Russian throne
- Leonhard Lechner, German composer and music editor (born 1553)
- Carel van Mander, Dutch painter and poet (born 1548)
- Akaza Naoyasu, Japanese nobleman
- Jean Nicot, French diplomat and scholar (born 1530)
- Nicolaus Taurellus, German philosopher and theologian (born 1547)
- Gaspar de Zuniga y Azevedo, Spanish colonial administrator and viceroy of Mexico (born 1540) See also :Category:1606 deaths. Category:1606 ko:1606년 ms:1606

Guy Fawkes

Guy Fawkes (April 13, 1570–January 31, 1606), was a member of the group of Roman Catholic conspirators who attempted to carry out the Gunpowder Plot. The conspirators had planned to assassinate King James I of England and VI of Scotland and all the members of both branches of the Parliament of England. To do this, the House of Lords was to be blown up during the formal opening of the 1605 session of Parliament. Guy Fawkes was primarily responsible for the latter stages of the plan's execution. He was discovered before its completion, however. Following an interrogation, Fawkes and his co-conspirators were executed for treason. His capture is commemorated in Britain with Guy Fawkes Night.

Early life

Fawkes, whose surname is sometimes also given as "Faukes", was born in Stonegate in York, where he was baptised in the church of St. Michael-le-Belfry. He attended St. Peter's School. He was the only son of Edward Fawkes of York and his wife Edith Blake. He grew up to be tall and of an athletic build with brown hair and a moderately brown beard. Fawkes converted to Catholicism around the age of 16, according to his admission of recusancy at his preliminary interrogation following his capture. He served for many years as a soldier, gaining considerable expertise with explosives. In 1593 he enlisted in the army of Archduke Albert of Austria in the Netherlands, fighting against the Protestant United Provinces in the Eighty Years' War. In 1596 he was present at the siege and capture of Calais. By 1602, however, he had still risen no higher than the rank of ensign. While serving in the Spanish Army in the Netherlands, he adopted the Spanish form (Guido, pronounced "ghee-do") of his French/English nom (Guy, pronounced "ghee").

Gunpowder Plot

ensign celebrations in Lewes, Sussex.]] Guy Fawkes is most famous for his involvement in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, which he was placed in charge with executing due to his military and explosives experience. The plot, masterminded by Robert Catesby, was a failed attempt by a group of provincial English Roman Catholic conspirators to kill King James I of England and VI of Scotland, his family, and most of the Protestant aristocracy in one swoop by blowing up the Houses of Parliament during its State Opening. Guy Fawkes was first introduced to Robert Catesby by a man named Hugh Owen. Fawkes and the other conspirators were able to rent a cellar beneath the House of Lords. By March 1605, they had hidden approximately 2.5 tonnes of gunpowder in the cellar, with the intent of detonating it during the State Opening of Parliament. Several of the conspirators were concerned, however, about fellow Catholics who would have been present at parliament during the opening. One of the conspirators had written a letter of warning to Lord Monteagle, who received it on October 26. The conspirators became aware of the letter the following day, but they resolved to continue the plot after Fawkes had confirmed that nothing had been touched in the cellar. Lord Monteagle had been suspicious, however, and the letter was sent to the secretary of state who initiated a search of the vaults beneath the House of Lords. Fawkes was discovered and arrested during a raid on the cellar in the early morning of November 5. He was tortured over the next few days, after special permission to do so had been granted by the King. Eventually, he revealed the names of his co-conspirators (who were either already dead or whose names were known to the authorities). On January 31, Fawkes, Wintour, and a number of others implicated in the conspiracy were taken to Old Palace Yard in Westminster, where they were hanged, drawn, and quartered.

Legacy

The significance of the Gunpowder Plot, with Guy Fawkes being its central figure, has meant that his name remains well recognised. The complete story, his motivations, and the role of his co-conspirators are often simplified or ignored, however.

Language

In an example of semantic progression, Guy Fawkes' name is also the origin of the word "guy" in the English language, particularly in American spoken English. The burning on 5 November of an effigy of Fawkes, known as a "guy", led to the use of the word "guy" as a term for "a person of grotesque appearance," according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Over time, the word evolved to become a general reference for a man, as in "some guy called for you." In the 20th century, under the influence of American popular culture, "guy" gradually replaced "fellow," "bloke," "chap" and other such words in many English speaking countries.

Literature

American popular culture The story of Guy Fawkes helped to inspire certain situations in Alan Moore's post-nuclear dystopian science fiction graphic novel of a fascist Britain, V for Vendetta. The story revolves around the main character, V, who in the words of the book's artist David Lloyd is portrayed as "a resurrected Guy Fawkes." In the story, V finally explodes the abandoned parliament buildings on a future November 5 as his first move to bring down the nation's fascist tyranny. Charles Dickens also referred to Fawkes quite often, particularly in his history of England, but also with references in his novels. The poet T. S. Eliot also mentions Guy