Sunday is the seventh day of the week. Formerly, in Britain Sunday was considered the first day of the week, and some people still consider it so. In 321 a constitution of the Roman Emperor Constantine set Sunday aside as a day of rest in the towns, though the country population were allowed to work. In Britain, Edgar in 960 ordered the Sabbath to be kept holy from 3 pm on Saturday until daybreak on the following Monday and in 1677 Britain passed the Sunday Observance Act which while almost obsolete, had still not been repealed in 1920. In Wales, an act of 1881 forced the closure of all public houses on Sunday, except for railway station bars.
In 1606 Britain made it an offence, punishable by a fine, to be absent from divine worship on a Sunday, though exceptions were made for those infirm, elderly, young, insane and sick. In 1677 an Act of Charles II forbade all work on Sunday except what was necessary or had a charitable object, and the sale of goods on a Sunday was banned except the supply of meat and milk at public houses. This act remained intact until 1871 when Jews were freed from observing Sunday as a day of rest. Research Sunday
Alexander I was King of Scotland from 1107 to 1124. A son of Malcolm Canmore and Margaret of England, he succeeded his brother Edgar in 1107, and governed with great ability until his death in 1124. He was a great benefactor of the church, and a firm vindicator of the national independence.
Alexander I was a King of Yugoslavia. He was born in 1888 and died in 1934. He was of the Karageorgevic dynasty of Serbia, ascending the throne in 1921 he tried to overcome the ethnic, religious, and regional rivalries in his country by means of a personal dictatorship in 1929, supported by the army. In the interest of greater unity, he changed the name of his kingdom, which consisted of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, to 'Yugoslavia' in 1929. In 1931 some civil rights were restored, but they proved insufficient to quell rising political and separatist dissent, aggravated by economic depression. He was planning to restore parliamentary government when he was assassinated by a Croatian terrorist.
Alexander I was an Emperor of Russia. He was born in 1777 and died in 1825. He was the son of Paul I, and is believed to have assisted indirectly in his father's murder. He ascended the throne in 1801 and reigned until 1825. He set out to reform Russia and correct many of the injustices of the preceding reign. His private committee - the Neglasny Komitet - introduced plans for public education, but his reliance on the nobility made it impossible for him to abolish serfdom. His adviser, Speransky, pressed for a more liberal constitution, but the nobles secured his fall in 1812. At first a supporter of the coalition against Napoleon, his defeats by the latter at Austerlitz in 1805 and Friedland in 1807 resulted in the Treaties of Tilsit and in his support of the Continental System against the British.
His wars with Persia from 1804 to 1813 and with Turkey from 1806 to 1812 brought territorial gains, including the acquisition of Georgia and his armies helped to defeat Napoleon's grande armee at Leipzig, after its retreat from Moscow in 1812. In an effort to uphold Christian morality in Europe he formed a Holy Alliance of European monarchs, and became increasingly conservative in his domestic policies. The constitution he gave to Poland scarcely disguised the rule of the military there. He was reported to have died while in the Crimea, but rumour persisted that he had escaped to Siberia and became a hermit. Research Alexander I
Andrew Carnegie was an American industrialist and philanthropist. He was born at Dunfermline in 1835 and died in 1919. In May 1848 his parents left Dunfermline for America, settling in Pittsburgh. His prosperity began with the formation of the Pullman Palace Car Company which received a large contract from the Union Pacific Railroad; while Carnegie himself became manager of the Pittsburgh division of the PennsylvaniaRailroad, a position he held until after the civil war. After a visit to Scotland in 1868 he broke new ground by founding the Union Mills, Pittsburgh, for the manufacture of steel rails, which he noted were being preferred to those of iron. He also acquired the Edgar Thomson Steel Works, and in 1875 all the concerns in which he was interested were amalgamated under the title of 'Carnegie Brothers and Co'. In 1883 the HomesteadSteel Works were acquired, and along with several other works, were formed into one concern under the title 'The CarnegieSteel Company Limited'. Carnegie became very popular through his
benevolence, assisting the establishment of local libraries and church organs, paying class fees for students at Scottish universities and making donations to other universities and technical schools. In April 1905 he presented two million pounds sterling to provide pensions for teachers in American universities and colleges. Research Andrew Carnegie
Daniel Edgar Sickles was an American soldier. He was born in 1823 and died after 1897. He was prior to the American Civil War a lawyer, Democratic member of the New York Legislature, Secretary of Legation at London, and Congressman from 1857 to 1861. He had command of a brigade in the Peninsulacampaign and at Antietam, a division at Fredericksburg, and a corps at Chancellorsville and at Gettysburg, where his services were conspicuous. After the American Civil War he was sent abroad on a mission, and retired from the army with the rank of major-general in 1869. From 1869 to 1873 he was US Minister to Spain. In 1893 he re-entered the House of Representatives as a Democrat from New York City. Research Daniel Sickles
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer. He was born in 1809 at Boston and died in 1849. He wrote a number of horror and crime novels. Research Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Atheling was an English noble of the 11th century. He was the grandson of Edmund Ironside and son of Edward the Outlaw. He was born in Hungary, where his father had been conveyed in infancy to escape the designs of Canute. After the Battle of Hastings, Edgar (who had been brought to England in 1057) was proclaimed king of England by the Saxons, but made peace with William I and accepted the Earldom of Oxford. Having been engaged in some conspiracy against the king he was forced to seek refuge in Scotland, where bis sister Margaret became the wife of Malcolm Canmore. Edgar subsequently was reconciled with William and was allowed to live at Rouen, where a pension was assigned to him. Afterwards with the sanction of William Rufus he undertook an expedition to Scotland for the purpose of displacing the usurperDonald Bane, in favour of his nephew Edgar, son of Malcolm Canmore, and in this object he succeeded. He afterwards took part in Duke Robert's unsuccessful struggle with Henry I, but was allowed to spend the remainder of his life quietly in England. Research Edgar Atheling
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