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On This Day...

: 1087
In 1087 William II of England was Coronated.

His father William the Conqueror changed the face of England forever. As the Duke of Normandy, he gave his successive line powers to France and England. He was the first King to build Castles to maintain control of the English. William chose noblemen who proved their allegiance and awarded them titles and land. In return, these noblemen had to collect taxes and supply men for the king’s foreign campaigns. In turn, these noblemen divided their land up to be governed by those they felt worthy. These people would pledge allegiance to their noblemen and collect taxes on their behalf. This system was known as the Feudal System and it served many kings very well.

In 1085 William ordered the production of a book containing details of who owned what in England as well as who owed him tax and how much they owed. The book became known as the ‘Doomsday Book’ and allowed William the Conqueror to demand all taxes owed to him.

In 1087 William began a campaign in the Vexin County in France and became ill shortly after. He died at Saint Gervase Priory in Rouen where he was receiving medical attention, finally passing away on the 9th of September 1087.

His third son William became William II of England on the same day. William II was not such an innovative king and was much less liked. Quick to anger and had a red complexion which led to his nickname of William Rufus (meaning the red). William created many enemies during his short reign including the Church, Scotland and his own family. He died when he was shot with an arrow while hunting in the New Forest on the 2^nd of August 1100. It is not clear if the event was accidental or an assassination attempt but with no children his brother Harold became the next King of England on that day.; 1580
In 1580 Sir Francis Drake completed his circumnavigation of the world.

The first expedition around the world was undertaken by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (the Magellanic penguin and a group of neighbouring galaxies, the Magellanic cloud, were named after him) in the name of the Spanish. They set sail from Seville on the 10^th of August 1519 and travelled southwest towards South America following the shoreline and around to the Pacific. When they encountered the Philippine islands the Battle of Mactan took place with the locals and Magellan was killed with a wooden spear. Spanish explorer Juan Sebastian Elcano completes the expedition by sailing back to Spain via Southern Africa.

Sir Francis Drake had been sailing from a young age and made his first trip to America at the age of 23. In 1572 he set sail with a plan to attack the Spanish outpost which was part of the land route used to transport gold from Peru to the Caribbean. He and his crew successfully stole too much to carry and so buried it to take later. His success in sailing led to Queen Elizabeth I of England to request he set sail on his own voyage to circumnavigate the Earth. He set sail initially on the 15th of November 1577 from Plymouth but was forced back to England shortly after when weather damaged the ship. He attempted a second time on the 13th of December 1577 and set off southwest towards South America. He had great success returning home to Plymouth on the 26th of September 1580 not only the first captain to successfully circumnavigate the globe but with huge amounts of Spanish treasure he had captured from Spanish Galleon on the way.

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