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From today's featured article

St Mary the Virgin Church, Little Dunmow, FitzWalter's burial place

John FitzWalter, 2nd Baron FitzWalter (c. 1315 – 1361), was a prominent Essex landowner who waged an armed campaign against the neighbouring town of Colchester. With connections to the powerful de Clare family, who had arrived in England at the time of the Norman conquest, the FitzWalter family was of a noble and ancient lineage. They held estates across Essex, as well as properties in London and Norfolk. John FitzWalter played a prominent role during the early years of King Edward III's wars in France. FitzWalter's dispute with Colchester was exacerbated when townsmen illegally entered his park in Lexden; in return, he banned them from one of their own watermills. In 1342, he ransacked Colchester, destroyed its market, and besieged the town, preventing anyone from entering or leaving. In 1351, he was arrested and imprisoned in the Marshalsea. He languished in the Tower of London for over a year until the king agreed to pardon him. (Full article...)

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In the news

COVID-19 pandemic

Maria Ressa

Kenya, India, Mexico, Ireland, and Norway are elected to the United Nations Security Council as non-permanent members from 2021.
Press freedom advocates condemn the conviction of Rappler CEO Maria Ressa (pictured) for cyberlibel in the Philippines.
At least twenty soldiers are killed during skirmishes along the Line of Actual Control between China and India.

On this day

June 23: Grand Duke's Official Birthday in Luxembourg

Lake Louise, Banff National Park

1780 – American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army defeated British and Hessian troops at the Battle of Springfield, effectively ending British ambitions in New Jersey.
1887 – The Parliament of Canada passed the Rocky Mountains Park Act, creating Banff National Park (pictured) in Alberta as the country's first national park.
1956 – In a nationwide referendum, Gamal Abdel Nasser was elected President of Egypt, a post he held until his death in 1970.
1972 – President Richard Nixon signed Title IX into law as part of the Education Amendments, prohibiting gender discrimination in any educational program receiving U.S. federal funds.
2014 – Under the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 2118, the last of Syria's declared chemical weapons were shipped out for destruction.

Margaret of Denmark, Queen of Scotland (b. 1456)
Norman Pritchard (b. 1875)
Sanjay Gandhi (d. 1980)

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Today's featured picture

Ana Santos Aramburo (born 1957) has been the director of the National Library of Spain since February 2013. Having received a degree in geography and history from the University of Zaragoza in Spain, she has spent much of her career working at the Complutense University of Madrid, first at the library of the Faculty of Economics and Business Sciences, and later serving as deputy director of the university library. Later she served as Director of the Historical Library Marquis of Valdecilla, General Director of Libraries and Archives of the City of Madrid, and Director of Cultural Action at the National Library. This photograph of Santos shows her at the headquarters of the National Library of Spain in Madrid.

Photograph credit: Biblioteca Nacional de España

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