User:The bellman

G'day The bellman is a character from The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll. My actual name is Robin Shannon and i live in Canberra, Australia. If you want to contact me by email or with XMPP/gtalk you can do so by using MYFIRSTNAME@MYLASTNAME.id.au". Today's featured article Alboin (530s–572) was king of the Lombards from about 560 until 572. During his reign the Lombards ended their migrations by settling in Italy. He had a lasting impact on Italy and the Pannonian Basin. The period of Alboin's reign as king in Pannonia following the death of his father, Audoin, was one of confrontation and conflict between the Lombards and their main neighbors, the Gepids. The Gepids initially gained the upper hand, but in 567, thanks to his alliance with the Avars, Alboin inflicted a decisive defeat on his enemies, whose lands the Avars subsequently occupied. The increasing power of his new neighbours caused Alboin some unease however, and he therefore decided to leave Pannonia for Italy, hoping to take advantage of the Byzantine Empire's reduced ability to defend its territory in the wake of the Gothic War. After succeeding in gathering together a large coalition of peoples, Alboin began his trek in 568. After crossing the Julian Alps he entered an almost undefended Italy, and rapidly took control of most of Venetia and Liguria. In 569, unopposed, he took northern Italy's main city, Milan. Pavia offered stiff resistance however, and was only taken after a siege lasting three years. During that time Alboin turned his attention to Tuscany, but signs of factionalism among his supporters and Alboin's diminishing control over his army increasingly began to manifest themselves. Alboin was assassinated on June 28, 572, in a coup d'état instigated by the Byzantines. (more...) Recently featured: Hey Baby – Malmö FF – W. E. B. Du Bois Selected anniversaries Template:February 26 selected anniversaries Community and policy references Wikipedia:Tutorial/Glossary abbreviated glossary—the ten most likely words you'll encounter. Wikipedia:Glossary explains the words you'll hear other editors use. Wikipedia:Community Portal provides links to community resources—this page is always available in the navigation sidebar. Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines Directories Wikipedia:FAQ is an index of FAQ pages on all aspects of Wikipedia. Wikipedia:Utilities — a bigger directory of project pages than the community portal. Wikipedia:Topical index — if you want a really complete index. New pages All New: 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Orphaned: 500 1001 1501 Donate If you find this encyclopedia or its sister projects useful, please consider making a donation. Donations are used primarily for purchasing server equipment.

In the news A train crash (aftermath pictured) in Buenos Aires kills 51 people and injures more than 700 others. Eurozone finance ministers reach an agreement on a second bailout for Greece. Scientists reportedly regenerate specimens of Silene stenophylla from placental tissue frozen approximately 32,000 years ago. At least 44 people are killed during a prison riot in Apodaca, Mexico. Caesar Must Die wins the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. President of Germany Christian Wulff resigns following allegations of corruption during his tenure as Prime Minister of Lower Saxony. A fire at a prison in Comayagua, Honduras, kills more than 380 people. Did you know... From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that European welterweight champion Johnny Basham (pictured) faced a manslaughter charge after killing an opponent in a boxing match? ... that Double Fine Productions raised more than $1 million in under 24 hours in a record-breaking, crowd-sourced Kickstarter funding drive for their upcoming adventure game? ... that racehorse Pope came from behind "within a few strides of the winning-post" to win the 1809 Derby Stakes by a neck? ... that construction of the Vianden Pumped Storage Plant began after a treaty was signed between Luxembourg and the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate? ... that Iowa golden-saxifrage is sometimes considered to be a variety of Chrysosplenium alternifolium? ... that Brigitte, who plays the French Bulldog Stella on the TV show Modern Family, has been called the most famous dog on television since Frasier's Eddie? Advice and general information Wikipedia:Welcome, newcomers explains the site and what to do here. Faux pas avoidance helps you avoid some common mistakes. Know how to contribute, but not what to write about? See Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia for help. Looking for other ways to improve articles? See Wikipedia:Guide to improving articles. Specialised tutorials Wikipedia:Picture tutorial is a tutorial on image formatting. Wikipedia:How to use tables is a tutorial on the use of tables. Wikipedia:NPOV tutorial is a tutorial on how to write from a neutral perspective. TeX markup is a list of the markup symbols we use. Style and technique references Directory: Wikipedia:Style and How-to Directory Wikipedia:How to edit a page gives lots of information on things like formatting, character sets, and variables. Wikipedia:How to start a page Wikipedia:Manual of Style Technical references MediaWiki User's Guide — a user's guide for the MediaWiki software that Wikipedia runs on.

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