960 years ago today
Battle of Stamford Bridge Ends the Viking Age
On September 25, 1066, King Harold II of England routed a massive Norwegian invasion force at Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire, killing the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada and his own treacherous brother Tostig. It was one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on English soil — so complete was the English victory that the invading fleet, said to have arrived in 300 ships, needed only 24 to carry the survivors home. Yet Harold barely had time to celebrate. Three days later, William the Conqueror landed in the south, and Harold was forced to march his exhausted army 250 miles back through England. The Battle of Stamford Bridge is widely regarded as the end of the Viking Age; within three weeks its victorious king would be dead at Hastings, and England would never be the same.
William Faulkner
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Mark Rothko
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Battle of Stamford Bridge Ends the Viking Age
Harold II of England crushes Harald Hardrada's Norwegian invasion at Stamford Bridge, effectively ending centuries of Viking threats to England — just days before William the Conqueror arrives in the south.
Treaty of York Settles the Anglo-Scottish Border
England and Scotland sign the Treaty of York, defining their shared border along lines that have remained largely unchanged for nearly 800 years, establishing one of the most enduring national frontiers in European history.
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Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa becomes the first European to see the Pacific Ocean from the New World, wading into the water in full armor to claim it and all lands it touched for the Spanish Crown.
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Little Rock Central High School Integration
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Sandra Day O'Connor Confirmed as First Female Supreme Court Justice
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King of Norway, Viking Warlord
Called the 'Last Great Viking,' Harald Hardrada was struck by an arrow at Stamford Bridge while leading the Norwegian invasion of England. His death ended the era of Viking political ambition in the British Isles.
John Bonham
Drummer of Led Zeppelin
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Ring Lardner
American Sportswriter & Satirist
A pioneering sports journalist and short story writer, Lardner's comic ear for American vernacular speech influenced writers from Hemingway to Fitzgerald. His coverage of the 1919 Black Sox scandal remains a benchmark of American sportswriting.
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