In 626, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: "This year Penda succeeded to the kingdom [of Mercia] and reigned thirty winters." As king of Mercia Penda's first victory came in 628. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 628 says that Cyngils, king of Wessex, and Cwichelm his son 'fought with Penda at Cirencester and came to an agreement with him there'. The 'agreement' seems to have been to give Cirencester to Penda. It's likely Penda also got the territory of the Hwicce at this time. The agreement or treaty also seems to have been a marriage alliance. Penda married Cynewise, probably a sister of Cynegils. He formed an alliance with Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynedd. Cadwallon was known to have been very hostile towards the Northumbrians. In 633 Penda joined him in invading Northumbria. At Battle of Hatfield Chase their combined armies defeated and killed King Edwin of Northumbria. Cadwallon remained in Northumbria for a year destroying everything he could. Penda left and returned to Mercia. He brought with him Eadfrith, the son of Edwin, as a prisoner possibly to set up as a puppet ruler in Northumbria under Penda. But Penda had him murdered a few years later.
Sometime after 633 Penda killed two East Anglian kings, Sigebert and Egric, in battle. He set up a vassal king in East Anglia. About 635 Penda's brother Eowa became a king in Mercia along with Penda. Possibly he ruled northern Mercia while Penda ruled in the south. In Cadwallon, Penda's ally, was defeated and killed by King Oswald of Northumbria. The armies of Oswald and Penda met in 641 at Maserfelth (later called Oswestry in Shropshire). What events led to the battle is not recorded. Penda defeated and killed Oswald. This left Penda the most powerful king in England. Nothing indicates that Penda claimed to be overlord however. In 643 Cenwalh succeeded Cynegils as king of Wessex. Cenwalh married a sister of Penda of Mercia. But in 645 when Cenwalh her (set her aside) in favor of another wife, Penda invaded Wessex. Penda drove Cenwalh into exile in East Anglia. While in exile, Wulfhere, the son of Penda, took a great deal of territory away from Wessex. He gave the Isle of Wight to Aethelwalh, King of Sussex. Cenwalh returned to his kingdom . In 650, possibly to teach him a lesson for sheltering Cenwalh, Penda drove King Anna of East Anglia out of his kingdom. Penda killed Anna in battle in .
After King Oswald's death, Northumbria divided back into the two previous kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira. Each had their own king. Oswiu of Northumbria became king of Bernicia. He was Oswald's brother and Penda had a particular contempt for him. In 653 Deira came under Mercian control. In 654, hoping to put an end to Oswiu, Penda gathered all his allies and invaded Bernicia. Called the battle of the Winwaed he marched against Oswiu with 'thirty legions'. On Sunday, 15 November 655 the two armies met in battle near Leads. Although he had the larger army Penda was killed. This established Oswiu as king of all Northumbria and as overlord of all the English south of the River Humber. Penda was succeeded by his son Peada.
Penda married Cynewise, his only known wife. All his children became Christian. Penda was the father of:
Unforgiven (2005)
Unforgiven (2005) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view show made by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held on September 18, 2005 at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was the seventh Unforgiven event held by the WWE.
P. G. T. Beauregard
Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard (May 28, 1818 – February 20, 1893) was an American military officer, politician, inventor, writer, civil servant. He was the first prominent general of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Today, he is known as P. G. T. Beauregard, but he rarely used his first name as an adult.
Beauregard was born on May 28, 1818 in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. He was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. Beauregard studied at the United States Military Academy.
After the South seceded, he resigned from the US Army and became the first Confederate brigadier general. He commanded the defenses of Charleston, South Carolina, at the start of the Civil War at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Three months later he won the First Battle of Bull Run near Manassas, Virginia.
Beauregard was married to Marie Antoinette Laure Villeré from 1841 until her death in 1850 after giving birth to their third child. They had three children, René, Henri, and Laure. Then he was married to Caroline Deslonde from 1860 until her death in 1894. They had no children.
Following his military career, Beauregard returned to Louisiana, where he served as a railroad executive. He became wealthy because of his role in creating the Louisiana Lottery.
Beauregard died on February 20, 1893 in his sleep from heart disease in his New Orleans, Louisiana home. He was 74 years old. He was buried at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Ken Hechler
Kenneth William "Ken" Hechler (September 20, 1914 – December 10, 2016) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented West Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1959 to 1977. Hechler was the West Virginia Secretary of State from 1985 to 2001. He was currently the oldest living person to have served in the United States Congress.
Hechler was born in Roslyn, New York on September 20, 1914. He studied at Swarthmore College and later attended Columbia University.
Hechler faced a close race for the first (and as it turned out, only) time in 1972. Following the 1970 Census, West Virginia's population was low. The state legislature merged Hechler's district with most of the old 5th District, comprising several coal-mining counties around Bluefield and Beckley.
The 5th had been represented by Democrat James Kee of Bluefield since 1965, and members of his family had held the district continuously since 1933. On paper, the new district favored Kee, who retained 65 percent of his former territory. However, Hechler routed him in the Democratic primary by almost 26 points and easily won reelection in November. He was reelected in 1974 after being unopposed in the primary and general election.
In 1976, he entered a multi-candidate primary for governor, but lost that statewide race by a large margin. In 1984 he ran for West Virginia Secretary of State and won. He was re-elected in 1988, 1992, and 1996. n 1990, he again ran, in the middle of his Secretarial term, for his old Congressional seat, but was defeated by Rahall in the primary. In 2004 he ran yet again for his old post as Secretary of State. This time, he won the Democratic primary by a plurality, but lost the general election to Republican Betty Ireland.
Since 2004, Hechler has campaigned against mountaintop removal mining. On June 23, 2009, Hechler, then aged 94, participated in a protest near mountaintop removal mining sites in the West Virginia coalfields in the Coal River Valley along with others. He was one of 29 protesters arrested for trespass.
Hechler died under hospice care in Romney, West Virginia on December 10, 2016 from a stroke, aged 102.
Unforgiven (2004)
Unforgiven (2004) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view show made by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held on September 12, 2004 at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. It was the sixth Unforgiven event held by the WWE.
Jersey Girl (2004 movie)
Jersey Girl is a 2004 American drama-comedy movie. It was written and directed by Kevin Smith. It was produced by Scott Mosier. It stars Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Raquel Castro, George Carlin, Jason Biggs, Jennifer Lopez, Stephen Root, and Will Smith. Jason Lee, Matt Damon, and Betty Aberlin had cameo appearances.
It was released on March 26, 2004 to negative reviews. Critic Roger Ebert thought the movie was good because he gave it 3.5 out of 4 stars.
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