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From today's featured article

Æthelred depicted in the early 14th century

Æthelred I (845 or 848 – 871) was King of Wessex from 865 until his death. He was the fourth of five sons of King Æthelwulf. He succeeded his elder brother Æthelberht and was followed by his youngest brother, Alfred the Great. Æthelred's two infant sons were passed over for the kingship. Æthelred's accession coincided with the arrival of the Viking Great Heathen Army in England. Over the next five years the Vikings conquered Northumbria and East Anglia, before launching a full-scale attack on Wessex in late 870. In early January 871, Æthelred was defeated at the Battle of Reading. Four days later he scored a victory in the Battle of Ashdown, but this was followed by two defeats at Basing and Meretun. He died shortly after Easter. Alfred was forced to buy off the Vikings, but decisively defeated them seven years later. Æthelred's reign was important numismatically, as he adopted the Mercian Lunettes design, creating a unified coinage design for southern England for the first time. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

To the Rescue by Hilda Annetta Walker

... that figurative artist Hilda Annetta Walker (work pictured) objected to Modernist works because she found it difficult to tell what they represented?
... that Spider-Man 2 is considered to be one of the best and most influential superhero films of all time?
... that progressive house music producer and DJ Guy J prefers analog equipment over software, describing its sound as "a bit dirty and warm"?
... that about 27 men and newsboys were killed in the Chicago circulation wars in the early 1900s?
... that according to Amnesty International, pre-trial detentions, bans on gatherings, and censorship have occurred in Chad in the lead-up to the 2021 presidential election?
... that ballerina Jennie Somogyi was offered an apprenticeship at the New York City Ballet when she was 15, becoming one of the youngest dancers to join the company?
... that the Atlantic partridge tun preys on sea cucumbers much larger than itself?
... that Texas Motor Speedway's president once "just laughed" at the idea of NASCAR at COTA?

In the news

COVID-19 pandemic: Disease; Virus; By location; Impact; Vaccines; Portal

Faustin-Archange Touadéra

Faustin-Archange Touadéra (pictured) is elected for a second term as President of the Central African Republic.
LauncherOne becomes the first liquid-fueled aircraft-launched rocket to reach orbit.
Yoweri Museveni is re-elected as President of Uganda.
Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte and his cabinet resign as a result of a childcare benefits scandal.

On this day

January 22: Day of Unity of Ukraine (1919)

Macintosh 128K

565 – Eutychius, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, was arrested after he refused Byzantine emperor Justinian I's order to adopt the tenets of the Aphthartodocetae, a sect of non-Chalcedonian Christians.
1273 – Muhammad II became Sultan of Granada after his father's death in a riding accident.
1924 – Ramsay MacDonald took office as the first prime minister of the United Kingdom from the Labour Party.
1963 – France and West Germany signed the Élysée Treaty, establishing a new foundation for relations that ended centuries of rivalry.
1984 – During Super Bowl XVIII, Apple Computer introduced the Macintosh (pictured), the first successful personal computer to use a graphical user interface, with the television commercial "1984".

Wang Zhi (d. 1560)
Karl Ernst Claus (b. 1796)
S. Vithiananthan (d. 1989)

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From today's featured list

The Danish football champions are the winners of the highest league of football in Denmark. The title has been contested since 1913, in varying forms of competition. Since 1991, the winners have been found through the Danish Superliga championship. The Danish football championship is governed by the Danish Football Association. The early Danish football championships were decided in a single game, and the competition was not nationwide until its structure was altered before the 1927–28 season. Until the 1950s, the winners' list included teams exclusively from the Copenhagen area. Kjøbenhavns Boldklub thus won 12 of its record 15 Danish championships before the 1954–55 season, when Køge Boldklub became the first non-Copenhagen team to be crowned Danish football champions. A Danish champion has been found every year since 1913, except for 1915 and 1928. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The sooty oystercatcher (Haematopus fuliginosus) is a species of wading bird endemic to Australia. It frequents the intertidal zone on sand, shingle or pebble beaches, mudflats, and saltflats. With a length of 42 to 52 cm (16.5 to 20.5 in), females are slightly larger than males, and have relatively longer beaks. The two sexes differ in their diets; females tend to select soft prey such as small fishes and crabs, bluebottle jellyfishes and sea squirts, which they can swallow whole, while males choose hard prey such as mussels, turban shells and periwinkles.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

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