This Day in History

[Susan]

Today in royal history:

December 29, 1170 - Murder of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, in Canterbury Cathedral

December 29, 1709 - Birth of Empress Elizabeth of Russia, daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine I

December 29, 1731 - Death of Princess Louise-Hippolyte of Monaco
Louise-Hippolyte was the Sovereign Princess of Monaco until her death from smallpox.

December 29, 1843 – Birth of Elisabeth of Wied, wife of Carol I of Romania

December 29, 1916 - Murder of Grigori Efimovich Rasputin
Tsar Nicholas II's first cousin Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich and his niece's husband Prince Felix Yusopov were among the conspirators.

December 29, 1950 - Birth of Prince Takamado of Japan
Prince Takamado was a cousin of Emperor Akihito. He died suddenly on November 21, 2002

December 29, 1983 – Wedding of Princess Caroline of Monaco (2nd marriage) and Stefano Casiraghi

December 29, 1994 - Birth of Princess Kako of Japan, daughter of Prince Akishino
Princess Kako is a granddaughter of Emperor Akihito

[Susan]

Today in royal history:

December 30, 39 AD - Birth of Titus, Roman emperor

December 30, 1460 - Death of Richard, Duke of York at the Battle of Wakefield; buried at Collegiate Church of Fotheringhay, Northhamptonshire
Richard, Duke of York was the father of Edward IV and Richard III. His son Edmund, Duke of Rutland was also killed during the battle.

December 30, 1913 – Death of Sofia of Nassau, wife of Oscar II of Sweden and Norway, at Stockholm Palace; buried at Riddarholmen Church

December 30, 1947 – Abdication of King Michael of Romania

[Susan]

Today in royal history:

December 31, 192 - Death of Roman Emperor Commodus

December 31, 1572 – Birth of Emperor Go-Yozei of Japan

December 31, 1720 - Birth of Charles Edward Stuart, known as Bonnie Prince Charlie and as the Young Pretender
Charles was the grandson of James II who was overthrown in 1688 during the Glorious Revolution.

[Susan]

Happy New Year!

Today in royal history:

January 1, 1511 - Birth of Henry, Duke of Cornwall, son of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, at Richmond Palace, Surrey
This is the "New Year's Prince" that Henry and Katherine had such high hopes for. Sadly, he lived only until February.

January 1, 1515 - Death of Louis XII of France at Paris; buried at the Basilica of St. Denis

January 1, 1516 – Birth of Margareta Leijonhufvud, wife of Gustav I of Sweden

January 1, 1559 - Death of Christian III of Denmark and Norway at Koldinghus; buried at Roskilde Cathedral

January 1, 1801 - Union of Great Britain and Ireland creating the United Kingdom

January 1, 1766 - Death of James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender, at Rome, Italy; buried at St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican

January 1, 1877 - Queen Victoria is proclaimed Empress of India

January 1, 1946 - Emperor Hirohito of Japan announces he is not a god

[Susan]

Today in royal history:

January 2, 1784 – Birth of Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Ernest was the father of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, and also the Queen’s uncle.

January 2, 1819- Death of Maria Louisa of Parma, wife of Charles IV of Spain, at Barberini Palace, Rome, Italy; buried at the Monastery of San Lorenzo El Real in El Escorial

January 2, 1861 – Death of Frederick William IV, King of Prussia, at Potsdam, Germany; buried at Friedenskirche, Potsdam

January 2, 2000 - Death of Maria Mercedes Borbón-Two Sicilies, mother of King Juan Carlos of Spain, at La Mareta, Lanzarote, Spain; buried at the Monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial

[Susan]

Today in royal history:

January 3, 1437 – Death of Catherine of Valois, wife of Henry V, at Abbey of St. Saviour, Bermondsey, London; buried at Westminster Abbey
Catherine’s second marriage was to Owen Tudor. Their son, Edmund, was the father of Henry VII.

January 3, 1701 - Death of Prince Louis I of Monaco, buried at Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Monaco

January 3, 1724 – Birth of Sophia Antonia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, wife of Ernest Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

January 3, 1868 - Meiji Restoration returns authority to Japan's emperors

January 3, 1924 - Discovery of the sarcophagus of King Tutankhamen by Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings

January 3, 1981 - Death of Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone, the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria, at Kensington Palace; buried at Frogmore, Windsor
Princess Alice was the daughter of Prince Leopold, son of Queen Victoria, and Princess Helen of Waldeck-Pyrmont. She married the brother of Queen Mary, Prince Alexander of Teck, whose style changed to the Earl of Athlone during World War I. Alice was a hemophilia carrier and transmitted the disease to her son Rupert

[Nefret]

Jan 3 1892... birth of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. He is best known as the author of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

[Susan]

[quote=""Nefret""]Jan 3 1892... birth of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. He is best known as the author of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. [/quote]

We should be posting more dates for authors here!

[Susan]

Today in royal history:

January 4, 1236 - Wedding of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence at Canterbury Cathedral

January 4, 1698 - Most of the Palace of Whitehall in London, the main residence of English monarchs, destroyed by fire

January 4, 1926 – Death of Margherita of Savoy, wife of Umberto I of Italy, in Bordighera, Italy; buried at the Pantheon, Rome

January 4, 1931 - Death of Princess Louise, Princess Royal, daughter of Edward VII, at Portman Square, London; buried at Mar Lodge Chapel, Braemar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

[Kasthu]

If any of you are on LibraryThing, if you look on the Home page and scroll down to the very botton right-hand side, there's a list of authors born/died on this day.

Born on January 3rd besides Tolkien: Terry Deary (1946), Erik Larson (1954), Connie Mae Fowler (1960), and Francesca Lia Block (1962).

Died on this day: Jaroslav Hasek (1923), Lorraine Boettner (1990), and Will Eisner (2005).

Don;t know who some of these authors are, but it's an interesting feature.