Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 October 14

The Norman conquest of England was the invasion and occupation of England by an army of Norman, Breton, and French soldiers, led by Duke William II of Normandy, later styled as William the Conqueror. The invasion culminated in the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. William's claim to the English throne derived from his familial relationship with the childless Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor, who died in January 1066 and was succeeded by his brother-in-law Harold Godwinson. After the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada invaded northern England in September, Harold defeated and killed him at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Within days, William landed in southern England. Harold marched south to confront him, but left a significant portion of his army in the north, and was defeated and killed by William's force at Hastings. William faced rebellions for years, and was not secure on his throne until after 1072. He confiscated the lands of the resisting English elite, some of whom fled into exile. To control his new kingdom, William gave lands to his followers and built castles commanding military strongpoints. (Full article...)

• ... that the Flag of Guernsey (pictured) is based on a banner used by Duke William the Bastard of Normandy during the Battle of Hastings?
• ... that in 1974, Barbara Thoman Curtis led the establishment of the American Nurses Association's first political action committee?
• ... that most Numayrid princes, apprehensive of urban life, ruled their cities from their Bedouin camps in the pastures?
• ... that the extinct sawfly Ypresiosirex orthosemos was named for the unique corrugation of its wings?
• ... that Thorarinn Thorason's wife threatened to drown herself due to his missionary efforts in Iceland, but he was drowned himself later that year?
• ... that Space Battle Lunchtime is a comic about food preparation, a subject largely ignored in American comics?
• ... that Henri Laborit recognized the psychiatric uses of chlorpromazine, which helped reduce asylum populations and "change the face of serious mental illness"?
• ... that since 1912, Spanish association football club Athletic Bilbao only fields players with ancestry from the Basque Country?

• King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej (pictured), the world's longest-serving head of state, dies at the age of 88.
• Bob Dylan is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for "having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".
• Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the Colombian conflict.
• Hurricane Matthew kills more than 1,000 people, mainly in Haiti.
• Bernard L. Feringa, Jean-Pierre Sauvage, and Sir J. Fraser Stoddart are awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the synthesis of molecular machines.

October 14: Defender of Ukraine Day

• 1863 – American Civil War: In the Battle of Bristoe Station, the Union II Corps was able to surprise and repel the Confederate attack on the Union rear guard, resulting in a Union victory.
• 1888 – French inventor Louis Le Prince filmed Roundhay Garden Scene, the earliest surviving motion picture, in Roundhay, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
• 1913 – The worst mining accident in the United Kingdom's history took place when an explosion took the lives of 439 people at the Universal Colliery in Senghenydd, Wales.
• 1956 – B. R. Ambedkar (pictured), a leader of India's "Untouchable" caste, publicly converted to Buddhism, becoming the leader of the Dalit Buddhist movement.
• 1973 – After student protests against the Thai military government turned to violence, King Bhumibol Adulyadej announced that Prime Minister Thanom Kittikachorn had resigned.

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C. Everett Koop (1916–2013) was an American pediatric surgeon and public health administrator. He was a vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and served as the 13th Surgeon General of the United States under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1989. Koop was known for his work to reduce tobacco use, AIDS, and abortion, and for his support of the rights of disabled children.

Photograph: United States Public Health Service; restoration: Adam Cuerden