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Ælfwynn (died 8 July 983) was a member of a wealthy Anglo-Saxon family in Huntingdonshire. In about 932 she married Æthelstan, the powerful ealdorman of East Anglia, who was called the Half-King because monarchs were said to depend on his advice. Ælfwynn is chiefly known for having been foster-mother to the future king Edgar (ruled 959–975), following his mother's death in 944, when he was an infant. Æthelstan was a leading supporter of the monastic reform movement; Edgar's upbringing in reforming circles profoundly influenced him, and he became a strong ally of the movement as king. Ælfwynn had four sons, and the youngest, Æthelwine, became the chief secular magnate and a leading monastic reformer like his father. In 966 he was a co-founder of Ramsey Abbey. Ælfwynn donated her estates to the foundation in the same year, including one given to her by Edgar, and was probably buried there. She may have played a crucial role in Ramsey's establishment. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

A Romanian cimpoi

... that the sound of the cimpoi (pictured), a type of pastoral bagpipe, was often mimicked by folk violins and shepherd's flutes, inspiring Béla Bartók to imitate it on the piano?
... that an investigation on the collision of Air Serbia Flight 324 noted that, despite the aircraft leaking fuel, it was sent to park at the terminal anyway?
... that mining in Greenland began in 1782 with coal extraction on Disko Island?
... that Jacqueline Wilson said she quickly wrote her 101st book due to previously saying that she would die after publishing her 100th novel?
... that a rear admiral was wounded while flying on a combat mission off the escort carrier USS Marcus Island?
... that at the time of its construction, the MLC Building was the tallest building in Auckland?
... that visitors to the leisure area Piscinão de Ramos were warned not to wear red for their own safety?
... that the medieval Persian tale of a pact between three schoolfellows ended with a deadly clash between a ruler and a revolutionary?
... that during the 1944 founding congress of the Youth League of Transcarpathian Ukraine, Ivan Turyanytsia called for the formation of a people's militia invoking "an eye for an eye"?
... that Lim Chee Onn once worked as a roving condensed milk salesman, selling it from the back of a van, before becoming a Singaporean cabinet minister?

In the news

Jesse Jackson in 1983

American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson (pictured) dies at the age of 84.
The Nationalist Party, led by Tarique Rahman, wins the Bangladeshi general election.
In the Barbadian general election, the Labour Party wins a third term and every seat in the House of Assembly.
Shootings at a residence and a school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, leave nine people dead.

On this day

February 18: First day of Ramadan (2026); Ash Wednesday (Western Christianity, 2026); Tibetan New Year begins (2026)

16th century depiction of the Battle of Wesenberg

1268 – Northern Crusades: The Battle of Wesenberg (depicted) took place between Novgorodian and Pskovian forces against the Livonian Order and its allies, ending with Russian forces retreating from Danish Estonia.
1766 – Enslaved Malagasy captives on the Dutch East India Company slave ship Meermin began a mutiny that led to the ship's destruction on Cape Agulhas in present-day South Africa and the recapture of the instigators.
1943 – The core members of the White Rose, an anti-Nazi resistance group, were arrested by the Gestapo.
1946 – President Harry S. Truman signed the Rescission Act, annulling benefits payable to Filipino troops who fought for the U.S. during World War II.
2001 – American FBI agent Robert Hanssen was arrested for having spied for the KGB and GRU over a 22-year period.

Francesco Redi (b. 1626)
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici (d. 1743)
Toni Morrison (b. 1931)
Bobby Robson (b. 1933)

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From today's featured list

Close-up of flowering dogwood

There are 29 families of basal asterids grouped in two orders, Ericales and Cornales. Asterids are a large clade of flowering plants composed of 17 orders and more than 80,000 species, about a third of all species of flowering plants. Like most asterids, these species tend to have petals that are fused with each other and with the bases of the stamens, and just one integument (covering) around the embryo sac. The basal asterids include crops such as blueberries, cranberries, tea, and Brazil nuts. They also include kiwifruit, dogwoods, ebony trees, and hydrangea plants. Most Ericales species tend to have woody stems or branches and seed capsules, while species in Cornales tend to have anthers attached at their base and inflorescences, or flower groupings, with lateral stalks that terminate in a flower or another branch. (Full list...)

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The European ground squirrel (Spermophilus citellus), also known as the European souslik, is a species in the squirrel family, Sciuridae. Like all squirrels, it is a member of the order of rodents, and it is found in central and southeastern Europe, with its range divided into two parts by the Carpathian Mountains. It is a colonial animal and mainly diurnal. The European ground squirrel excavates a branching system of tunnels up to 2 metres (6 ft) deep, with several entrances. This requires a habitat of short turf, such as on steppes, pasture, dry banks, sports fields, parks and lawns. Its short, dense fur is yellowish grey, tinged with red, with a few indistinct pale and dark spots on the back. Adults typically measure 20 to 23 centimetres (8 to 9 in) with a weight of 240 to 340 grams (8.5 to 12.0 oz). It has a slender build with a short, bushy tail, and makes a shrill alarm call that causes all other individuals in the vicinity to dive for cover. This European ground squirrel was photographed in Obrovisko Family Park, near Muráň, Slovakia.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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