A civil war, lasting from 1264 until 1267, between Henry III and some of his barons led by Simon de Montfort. Sparked by issues over crown finance and government, it it became a struggle between the power of an absolutist king and the rights of his barons.
Second Barons' War
Fact of the Day
The names of the English rivers Amber, Avon, Axe, Esk, Exe, Ouse, Humber, Irwell, Thames and Tyne all mean 'river' or 'water' in various old languages.
Quote of the Day
"Nobody is healthy in London. Nobody can be.
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~ Jane Austen (Emma)
On This Day
1846 Scottish surgeon Robert Liston was the first European to use anaesthesia during an amputation. He could amputate a leg in two and a half minutes.
1898 Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discovered the radioactive element radium.
1937 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs', the world's first full-length animated film, premiered in the USA
1946 A tsunami caused by an undersea earthquake killed at least 1,362 and left thousands homeless in Japan.
1967 Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a heart transplant, died in Cape Town, South Africa, 18 days after his operation.
1988 Pan Am Flight 103 exploded as it was flying over Lockerbie, Scotland. All 243 passengers and 16 crew, and 11 residents of Lockerbie were killed