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Coat of arms of Hastings

John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (1347–1375), was an English nobleman and soldier. At the age of one he became a ward of King Edward III. The King arranged for his daughter Margaret to marry Hastings. They married in 1359, but Margaret died two years later. The Hundred Years' War reignited in France, and in 1369 Pembroke journeyed to Aquitaine. There he took part in raids, sieges, and counter-measures against the French, with both notable successes and failures. In 1371 he was summoned to Parliament. There he was responsible for forcing the King's ecclesiastical ministers from power. In 1372 Pembroke returned to France with a small fleet. His arrival had been anticipated by the Castilian navy. Outnumbered and outgunned, he was forced to fight the Battle of La Rochelle, where he suffered a crushing defeat and was captured. After three years a large ransom was negotiated and in 1375 he was finally released. Returning to England through France, he was taken ill near Paris and died, aged 27. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Annunciation Seminary

... that an abandoned seminary (pictured) collapsed during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, upon its 100th year of completion?
... that a pregnant Sally Buchanan was said to have carried bullets in her apron and distributed whiskey while singing during the Battle of Buchanan's Station?
... that Latin legal maxims like casum sentit dominus have been described as "guardians of eternity [...] more lasting than codifications"?
... that the ruined Fort Phantom Hill was briefly a town that was the seat of Jones County, Texas?
... that Erich Korngold's Die tote Stadt had simultaneous premieres in Cologne and Hamburg in 1920, one with Johanna Geisler and her husband Otto Klemperer?
... that a filing for a temporary restraining order to stop the release of Get Up and Dance in the United States by the publisher of the Just Dance series was denied?
... that the Indonesian town of Tiakur experienced a shortage of specialist doctors due to them not renewing their contract?
... that comedian Kemah Bob maintains a drag king persona, Lil' Test Ease?

In the news

JUICE's trajectory

The European Space Agency launches the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) to study Ganymede, Europa and Callisto (trajectory pictured).
In the Myanmar civil war, the military junta's air force kills at least 130 civilians in Pazigyi.
In golf, Jon Rahm wins the Masters Tournament.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump is arraigned on 34 charges of falsifying business records.
Finland joins NATO as its 31st member.

On this day

April 16

MV Sewol

1520 – A revolt of citizens of Toledo in Castile, opposed to the rule of the foreign-born Charles I, began when the royal government attempted to unseat radical city councilors.
1862 – Slavery in Washington, D.C., ended when the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act became law.
1945 – Second World War: British and Canadian forces concluded the Liberation of Arnhem in the Netherlands from German occupation.
1948 – The Organisation for European Economic Co-operation, headquartered in Paris, was founded.
2014 – The ferry MV Sewol (pictured) capsized and sank off Donggeochado, South Korea, killing 306 people, mainly students from Danwon High School.

Frederick I, Duke of Austria (d. 1198)
Molly Brant (d. 1796)
Ponnambalam Ramanathan (b. 1851)

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Today's featured picture

Panoramic view of BASF's headquarters, showing industrial buildings along a river bank

BASF is a European multinational chemical company and the largest chemical producer in the world. The group comprises subsidiaries and joint ventures in more than 80 countries and operates six integrated production sites and 390 other production sites in Europe, Asia, Australia, the Americas and Africa. This panoramic photograph, taken in January 2023, shows the northern part of BASF's headquarters in Ludwigshafen, Germany, as seen from the east bank of the Rhine.

Photograph credit: Norbert Nagel

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