Vale of White Horse being removed to show the white chalky soil beneath. This figure gives name to the hill, the range and the Vale. It is 114 m (374 ft) long and highly stylised, the neck, body and tail varying little in width. The origin of the figure is unknown. Tradition asserted it to be the monument of a victory over the Danes by King Alfred, who was born at Wantage, but the site of the Battle of Ashdown (871 CE), has been variously located. Moreover, the figure has been dated to the Bronze Age, so it pre-dates the battle by many centuries.
Battle of Basra (871) Battle of Basra (871) The Battle of Basra was a major engagement of the Zanj Rebellion, fought on September 7–10, 871. Zanj rebels and allied Arab tribesmen, led by Yahya ibn Muhammad al-Azraq and 'Ali ibn Aban al-Muhallabi, launched a coordinated attack against the city of Basra. The city’s defenders, consisting of a small contingent of Abbasid regular troops and local Basran militia, were quickly overwhelmed, and the Zanj were able to enter the city, after which they massacred its inhabitants and engaged in a several-day period of looting. The historian Alexandre Popovic has called the battle "the most outstanding