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Melisende (c. 1109 – 1161) was the queen of Jerusalem from 1131 to 1152. The eldest daughter and heir of Baldwin II, she was crowned alongside her husband, Fulk. He initially sidelined Melisende, but she forced him to share power after a baronial uprising in 1134. Together they strengthened the crusader kingdom's defenses, while Melisende became celebrated for supporting its Christian communities. When Fulk died in 1143, she assumed full power and was crowned again with their son Baldwin III. After Edessa fell to Muslims in 1144, Melisende urged European intervention, helping set the Second Crusade in motion. Her relationship with Baldwin deteriorated as she resisted sharing authority with him. After a brief division of the kingdom, Baldwin invaded her territory and forced her to abdicate. From her new seat in Nablus, she remained involved in state and church affairs. William of Tyre praised Melisende as a wise and capable ruler, while modern historians are divided in their assessment. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that porn star Cindy Starfall (pictured) said that she once received a box of pears from an admirer?
- ... that many Sherpa people are named after the weekday on which they were born?
- ... that American football player John Galvin played 16-inch softball?
- ... that the band Gi!nz was once composed of incumbent members of the National Diet of Japan?
- ... that Joseph von Utzschneider, a former member of the Illuminati, later contributed to a government-supported publication intended to demonstrate the order's dangers?
- ... that the first commercial opera was based on the Andromeda myth?
- ... that Fredericus van Rossum du Chattel was criticised as being too entrenched in Dutch landscapes to paint Indonesia successfully?
- ... that the Florence and the Machine song "Ship to Wreck" was written because their frontwoman sang "Get Lucky" at a pub and crowd-surfed on to no one?
- ... that King Fulk died in a riding accident during a picnic arranged by his wife, who then swiftly seized power?
In the news
- A ferry fire (aftermath pictured) off Coron, Palawan, Philippines, kills at least 76 people.
- In Yemen, heavy fighting between the Houthis and the Presidential Leadership Council leaves hundreds of people dead.
- American journalist and feminist activist Gloria Steinem dies at the age of 92.
- Duane Davis is convicted of orchestrating the 1996 murder of American rapper Tupac Shakur.
On this day
- AD 81 – Domitian, the last Flavian emperor of Rome, was confirmed by the Senate to succeed his brother Titus.
- 1723 – António Manoel de Vilhena, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, laid the first stone of Fort Manoel in Malta.
- 1901 – Theodore Roosevelt became President of the United States at age 42, the youngest person ever to do so, eight days after William McKinley was fatally wounded in Buffalo, New York.
- 1979 – Afghan president Nur Muhammad Taraki (pictured) was overthrown and later killed on the orders of Hafizullah Amin, who succeeded him.
- 2019 – Drone attacks on major processing facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais forced Saudi Arabia to cut more than half of its oil production.
- Drusus Julius Caesar (d. AD 23)
- John Boyden (b. 1936)
- Ron DeSantis (b. 1978)
- Grace Kelly (d. 1982)
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A Trip to the Moon is a 1902 French science-fiction adventure film written, directed and produced by Georges Méliès, who also stars as Professor Barbenfouillis alongside an ensemble cast of French theatrical performers. Inspired principally by novels by Jules Verne, it depicts a group of astronomers travelling to the Moon in a cannon-propelled capsule, encountering the native Selenites, and returning to Earth. The film employed innovative special effects, including substitution splices, multiple exposure and stage machinery, and was an international success when it was released. After falling into obscurity following Méliès's retirement, it was rediscovered around 1930. The image of the capsule striking the Man in the Moon's eye has become one of cinema's most iconic images. Film credit: Georges Méliès
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