1141

Today in History 04/07/17

Queen Matilda And Her Tapestry.' Matilda, queen consort of the Kingdom of England and the wife of William the Conqueror, is supposed to have worked on the Bayeux Tapestry. (© Print Collector/Getty Images)(1141) England’s first female ruler takes the throne
Empress Matilda begins a seven-month reign during a chaotic period in England and Normandy known as The Anarchy. Although angry crowds stop her from being crowned queen, she will hold the title Lady of the English, and her son will become King Henry II.
Empress Matilda, also known as the Empress Maude, was the claimant to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as a child when she married the future Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. She travelled with her husband into Italy in 1116, was controversially crowned in St. Peter’s Basilica, and acted as the imperial regent in Italy. Matilda and Henry had no children, and when Henry died in 1125, the crown was claimed by Lothair II, one of his political enemies.
Lived: Feb 07, 1102 – Sep 10, 1167 (age 65)
Spouse: Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou (m. 1128 – 1151) · Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (m. 1114 – 1125)
Children: Henry II of England (Son) · Geoffrey, Count of Nantes (Son) · William FitzEmpress (Son)
Parents: Henry I of England (Father) · Matilda of Scotland (Mother)
Buried: Rouen Cathedral
Siblings: William Adelin (Brother) · Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester (Brother)
Highlights
  • 1118: William and Matilda’s mother – Matilda of Scotland – had died in 1118, and so Henry took a new wife, Adeliza of Louvain.

  • 1128: Henry knighted his future son-in-law, and Matilda and Geoffrey were married a week later on 17 June 1128 in Le Mans by the bishops of Le Mans and Séez.

  • 1135: Henry died in 1135 but Matilda and Geoffrey faced opposition from the Norman barons and were unable to pursue their claims.

  • 1137: Stephen returned to the Duchy in 1137, where he met with Louis VI and Theobald to agree to an informal alliance against Geoffrey and Matilda, to counter the growing Angevin power in the region.

  • 1139: In 1139 Matilda crossed to England to take the kingdom by force, supported by her half-brother, Robert of Gloucester, and her uncle, King David I of Scotland, while Geoffrey focused on conquering Normandy.

  • 1167: She was buried under the high altar at Bec Abbey after her death in 1167.

wiki/Empress_Matilda
Currier & Ives print of the Battle of Pittsburgh Landing (Battle of Shiloh), Tennessee, April 7, 1862 (© Universal History Archive/Getty Images)(1862) Grant claims major Civil War victory at Shiloh
Casualties numbering 23,000 result from two days of fighting in southwestern Tennessee between Union and Confederate forces, in the bloodiest American conflict to date. Although Gen. Ulysses S. Grant can claim an important Union win, the carnage shocks both sides.
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union force known as the Army of the Tennessee under Major General Ulysses S. Grant had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and was encamped principally at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee on the west bank of that river, where the Confederate Army of Mississippi, under General Albert Sidney Johnston and second-in-command Pierre G. T. Beauregard, launched a surprise attack on Grant’s army from its base in Corinth, Mississippi. Johnston was mortally wounded during the fighting; Beauregard, who thus succeeded to command of the army, decided against pressing the attack late in the evening. Overnight Grant was reinforced by one of his own divisions stationed further north and was joined by three divisions from another Union army under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell. This allowed them to launch an unexpected counterattack the next morning which completely reversed the Confederate gains of the previous day.
Start date: Apr 06, 1862
End date: Apr 07, 1862

wiki/Battle_of_Shiloh
Booker T. Washington 10-cent stamp (© Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum)(1940) US issues first stamp to honor an African American
Educator, public speaker, presidential advisor, and one of the most influential black civil rights leaders in the post-Reconstruction South, Booker T. Washington appears on a commemorative postage stamp issued 25 years after his death.
Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and advisor to presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American community.
Lived: Apr 05, 1856 – Nov 14, 1915 (age 59)
Spouse: Olivia A. Davidson (m. 1886 – 1889)
Founded: Tuskegee University · National Negro Business League · Calhoun Colored School
Education: Hampton University · Wayland Seminary (1878 – 1879)
Parents: Jane Ferguson (Mother)
Children: Ernest Davidson Washington (Son) · Portia M. Washington · Booker T. Washington Jr.
Highlights
  • 1878: He also attended Wayland Seminary in Washington, D.C. in 1878 and left after 6 months.

  • 1881: In 1881, the Hampton Institute president Samuel C. Armstrong recommended Washington to become the first leader of Tuskegee Institute, the new normal school (teachers’ college) in Alabama.

  • 1886: Booker T. Washington married Olivia A. Davidson in 1886; their marriage lasted 3 years till 1889.

  • 1900: ACHIEVEIn an effort to inspire the “commercial, agricultural, educational, and industrial advancement” of African Americans, Washington founded the National Negro Business League (NNBL) in 1900.MENT

  • 1901: When Washington’s second autobiography, Up From Slavery, was published in 1901, it became a bestseller and had a major effect on the African-American community, its friends and allies.

  • 1915: He led the school until his death in 1915.

wiki/Booker_T._Washington
Tutsi civilians, seeking refuge from Hutu militias, queue for food inside the Sacred Family Church in the government controlled part of Kigali, Rwanda May 20, 1994 (© Corinne Dufka/Reuters)(1994) Rwandan Genocide begins
In the aftermath of the Rwandan Civil War, conflicts in the African nation continue, reaching a flash point when ethnic Hutu forces kill Belgian peacekeepers and launch a genocidal campaign against their neighbors, the Tutsi. Roughly 800,000 will die in the largest genocide since World War II.
The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, was a genocidal mass slaughter of Tutsi in Rwanda by members of the Hutu majority government. An estimated more than 800,000 Rwandans were killed during the 100-day period from April 7 to mid-July 1994, constituting as many as 70% to 80% of the Tutsi population. Additionally, 30% of the Pygmy Batwa were killed. The genocide and widespread slaughter of Rwandans ended when the Tutsi-backed and heavily armed Rwandan Patriotic Front led by Paul Kagame took control of the country. An estimated 2,000,000 Rwandans, mostly Hutus, were displaced and became refugees.
Start date: Apr 07, 1994
End date: Jul 15, 1994

wiki/Rwandan_genocide
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A Historical Day

(1141) England’s first female ruler takes the throne
1141 Empress Matilda begins a seven-month reign during a chaotic period in England and Normandy known as The Anarchy. Although angry crowds stop her from being crowned queen, she will hold the title Lady of the English, and her son will become King Henry II. .
(1862) Grant claims major Civil War victory at Shiloh
Casualties numbering 23,000 result from two days of fighting in southwestern Tennessee between Union and Confederate forces, in the bloodiest American conflict to date. Although Gen. Ulysses S. Grant can claim an important Union win, the carnage shocks both sides. . 1862
(1940) US issues first stamp to honor an African American
1940 Educator, public speaker, presidential advisor, and one of the most influential black civil rights leaders in the post-Reconstruction South, Booker T. Washington appears on a commemorative postage stamp issued 25 years after his death..
(1994) Rwandan Genocide begins
In the aftermath of the Rwandan Civil War, conflicts in the African nation continue, reaching a flash point when ethnic Hutu forces kill Belgian peacekeepers and launch a genocidal campaign against their neighbors, the Tutsi. Roughly 800,000 will die in the largest genocide since World War II.. 1994