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Welcome to Wikipedia,the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.2,446,866 articles in EnglishArtsBiographyGeographyHistoryMathematicsScienceSocietyTechnologyAll portalsOverview · Editing · Questions · HelpContents · Categories · Featured content · A–Z indexToday’s featured articleEdward VIII (1894–1972) was King of Great Britain, Ireland, the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India from the death of his father, George V, on 20 January 1936, until his abdication on 11 December 1936. As a young man he served in World War I, undertook several foreign tours on behalf of his father, and was associated with a succession of older married women. Only months into his reign, Edward forced a constitutional crisis by proposing marriage to the American divorcée Wallis Simpson. Although legally Edward could have married Mrs. Simpson and remained king, his various prime ministers opposed the marriage, arguing that the people would never accept her as queen. Edward knew that the ministry of British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin would resign if the marriage went ahead; this could have dragged the King into a general election thus ruining irreparably his status as a politically neutral constitutional monarch. Rather than give up Mrs. Simpson, Edward chose to abdicate, making him the only monarch of Britain, and indeed any Commonwealth Realm, to have voluntarily relinquished the throne. He is one of the shortest-reigning monarchs in British history, and was never crowned. (more…)Recently featured: New York State Route 32 – Russian-Circassian War – Typhoon PakaArchive – By email – More featured articles…Did you know…From Wikipedia’s newest articles:… that the Michigan-Wacker Historic District (pictured) hosts Chicago’s first permanent residence, Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable Homesite?… that the Nicaraguan Rice Rat is one of only two mammals endemic to Nicaragua?… that Grand Duchess Anna freed her husband Vytautas the Great of Lithuania from a prison in Kreva by dressing him in women’s clothes?… that the Montreux Convention of 1936 is an international treaty regulating the Dardanelles and Bosporus Straits?… that Anita West, one of the presenters of Blue Peter, was on the show for such a short period that no footage of her exists in the BBC archives?… that famous Benjamin Franklin impersonator Ralph Archbold is married to a woman who impersonates Betsy Ross?… that the International Checker Hall of Fame in Petal, Mississippi was home to the world’s largest checkerboard?… the Wikipedia Review is an Internet forum devoted to the discussion of Wikimedia projects, in particular the English Wikipedia and its content and conflicts?Archive – Start a new article…In the newsLeaders of the nations meeting in Japan for the 34th G8 summit (pictured) agree to a target of cutting world greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent by 2050.A suicide bomber rams a car bomb into the Indian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing 41 people.An explosion near the Lal Masjid in Islamabad, Pakistan, kills at least 18 people on the first anniversary of the deadly siege and storming of the mosque.In tennis, Rafael Nadal of Spain and Venus Williams of the United States win the men’s and women’s singles title, respectively, at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships.Clashes are reported between Georgian and South Ossetian forces near Tskhinvali.Weekend cross-strait charter flights between Taiwan and Mainland China resume after 59 years.Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events…On this day…July 8: Feast day of Saint Kilian and Saint Procopius (Roman Catholic Church)1579 – Our Lady of Kazan (pictured), a holy icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, was discovered underground in Kazan, present-day Tatarstan, Russia.1758 – French and Indian War: French forces defeated the British at Fort Carillon on the shore of Lake Champlain in the British Colony of New York.1859 – Charles XV became King of Sweden and Norway following the death of his father Oscar I.1898 – American con artist and gangster Soapy Smith was killed in Skagway, Alaska when an argument with fellow gang members turned into an unexpected gunfight.1947 – Various news agencies reported the capture of a “flying saucer” by United States Air Force personnel from the Roswell Army Air Field in Roswell, New Mexico.2004 – After a 19-month trial, U.S. Marine Corps Major Michael Brown was convicted by a court in Naha, Okinawa for an attempted indecent assault on a Filipina bartender.More events: July 7 – July 8 – July 9Archive – By email – More anniversaries…It is now 21:47, July 8, 2008 (UTC) – Refresh this pageToday’s featured pictureIntercession of Charles Borromeo supported by the Virgin Mary, a fresco in the Karlskirche in Vienna, Austria. In 1713, a year after the bubonic plague epidemic, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor decided to build a church to honor his namesake patron saint, who was renowned as a healer for plague sufferers in his day.Artist: Johann Michael RottmayrRecently featured: LAPD helicopter – Scene composed using Blender – American RobinArchive – More featured pictures…