Athelred I (675–716) was the third of Penda's sons to be king of Mercia. He ravaged Kent to prevent them from breaking away from his rule. In 679 he was at war with Northumbria. According to Bede, Theodore Archbishop of Canterbury between the two kings to restore peace. He married Ostryth, daughter of the king of Bernicia. He was a Christian king who founded several churches and monasteries. He stepped down as king in 704 and passed the crown to his nephew Cenred. He was of the monastery of Bardsey and appears to have died about 716.
Offa (757–796), was the first of the Anglo-Saxon kings who might rightly be called "king of the English". He was the son of Thingfrith, the brother of Penda. He struggled to gain control of Mercia having come to power just after a civil war. But he proved to be ruthless, bold and creative in bringing Kent, Sussex and Essex under his control. Offa had diplomatic relations with Charlemagne. He was one of the few Anglo-Saxon monarchs to have dealings with continental rulers. Letters and presents were exchanged. But when Offa sought a marriage of his son to one of Charlemagne's daughters, relations were quickly cut off. Frankish ports were closed to British ships. Offa, very involved in church affairs, presided over church councils personally in 786-7. In 787 he convinced the pope to create the position of archbishop of Lichfield in Mercia. He wanted his own archbishop who was closer at hand than the Archbishop of Canterbury. He reorganized the of his kingdom. One of these defenses, Offa's Dyke was a massive earthworks between Mercia and the Welsh kingdoms to the west. Offa died in 796. His son, Ecgfrith, lasted only 141 days as king. Mercia was never again as powerful as it was during Offa's reign.
A new Mercian king, Raedwulf, was killed by Viking raiders in 844. In 855 Viking bands were recorded as being in Mercia near Wrekin. But the year 865 saw a major change in activity by the Scandinavian invaders. This was a much larger military force than had been seen before. The arrival of the Great Heathen Army in East Anglia. For a time the Danes (Vikings) were more interested in Northumbria. They gained control of York and moved south into Mercia then camped for the winter in Nottingham. In the spring of 868 a combined Mercian and West Saxon army came against the Vikings, but there was no battle. The Mercian king Burghred made a peace treaty with the invaders, who then moved north to York. In 873 Burghred was forced out of Mercia by the Vikings who then set their own choice of King, Ceowulf. In 874 the heathen army split with Halfdan, one of the leaders taking his band north. In 878 the Vikings in Mercia were attacked and defeated by King Alfred of Wessex. They converted to Christianity and settled on the land in East Anglia.
The ninth century saw the decline of Mercia as a kingdom. In 873-74 Mercia was conquered by the heathen army. In the 880s Wessex formed a marriage alliance with Mercia. Alfred's daughter, Ethelflaeda, married Ethelstan (II), of Mercia. When Ethelstan died, in 912, Edward the Elder appointed Ethelflaeda (his sister) 'Lady of the Mercians.' When Ethelflaeda died in 918, the Mercian nobles now thought themselves free of Wessex rule. Edward stepped in and appointed Ethelflaeda's daughter, Aelfwynn, to rule Mercia as his representative. But in 919 Edward brought her back to Wessex. After that Mercia was considered just another shire under his rule. A series of (similar to a count in Europe) followed. Under Canute in 1017, Mercia became one of the four divisions of England.
Stormtrooper (Star Wars)
In the fictional Star Wars universe, Stormtroopers are highly trained soldiers working for the evil Emperor Palpatine and his sidekick Darth Vader. They wear white armor and helmets, and use blaster guns.
Some of the Stormtroopers are clones (copies) of a bounty hunter named Jango Fett. These clones used to be on the side of the Galactic Republic, but after being told by the Emperor to kill all the Jedi, they killed most of them, and afterwards became Stormtroopers. Later, regular men and women became Stormtroopers too.
Cal Worthington
Calvin Coolidge "Cal" Worthington (November 27, 1920 – September 8, 2013) was an American car dealer. He was best known for his radio and television advertisements for the Worthington Dealership Group. He appeared with either a tiger, a seal, an elephant, a chimpanzee, a hippopotamus, or a bear.
Worthington was born on November 27, 1920 in Shidler, Oklahoma. He was named after then-Vice President of the United States Calvin Coolidge. Worthington died on September 8, 2013 in Orland, California from natural causes, aged 92.
Concord, Massachusetts
Concord is a town in east-central Massachusetts, not that far away from Boston. The population for Concord in the 2010 Census was nearly 17,700. The town is extremely notable for playing significant roles in the history of America. The town was the primary battle scene during the American Revolutionary War. Concord was established around 1635.
Value judgement
A value judgement (or value judgment) is an opinion of the rightness or wrongness or usefulness of something.
It is based on what a person thinks or prefers. Value judgments are not true or false. This is because they are not objective. They are decisions about how a person thinks or feels, or about what action a person thinks should be taken. They are opinions.
A typical dictionary definition runs:
Ski pole
Ski poles are carried by skiers to help them not falling over. They are called "ski sticks" in the United Kingdom. In France, they are called "batons".
Ski poles in alpine skiing are shorter than ski poles in Nordic skiing. Longer ski poles are used in cross country and free style skiing.
They are made from metal or composite material.
Ski poles have been used for a long time. People first used one ski pole when skiing. The first ski poles could also be used as a weapon. A flat circle was put near the bottom of the ski pole in the 17th century. This made it so the ski pole would not go all the way down to the ground. People started to use two ski poles by the start of World War I.
A steel ski pole was first made in 1937. It was invented by Otto Lang. Before this, some people used bamboo for ski poles. More and more people started using metal ski poles after World War II.
Lots of changes were made to ski poles from 1950 to 1975.
Galapagos shark
The Galapagos shark ("Carcharhinus galapagensis") is a species of Requiem shark, in the order of Carcharhiniformes. The Galapagos shark is a large species, reaching a maximum length of up to 12.1 feet (3.8 metres), and weighing up to 86 kg. This species is found in tropical waters surrounding oceanic islands, and is found in the Pacific, Atlantic, and western Indian Ocean.
The Galapagos shark was originally described as "Carcharias galapagensis" by Robert Evans Snodgrass and Edmund Heller in 1905, and was later moved to the genus "Carcharhinus". The holotype was a 64 cm (2.13 feet) long fetus from the Galapagos Islands, giving it the specific name "galapagensis".
Garrick (1982) placed the Galapagos shark and the Dusky shark at the center of the "obscurus group", one of two major groupings within "Carcharhinus". The group consisted of the Bignose shark, the Caribbean reef shark, the Sandbar shark, the Dusky shark, and the Oceanic whitetip shark; all large, triangular-toothed sharks. Based on allozyme data, Naylor (1992) changed this group, with the additions of the Silky shark, and the Blue shark. The closest relatives of the Galapagos shark were found to be the Dusky shark, the Oceanic whitetip shark, and the Blue shark.
The Galapagos shark reaches a maximum length of 12.1 feet (3.8 metres). Male individuals mature at lengths of 6.9-7.5 feet (2.1-2.3 metres), while females mature at 7.2-8.2 feet (2.2-2.5 metres) in length. The maximum weight for this species is 86 kg.