Reading, Berkshire from the "Readingas", an Anglo-Saxon tribe whose name means "Reada's People" in Old English, or less probably the Celtic "Rhydd-Inge", meaning "Ford over the River". In late 870, an army of Danes invaded the kingdom of Wessex and set up camp at Reading. On 4 January 871, in the first Battle of Reading, King Ethelred and his brother Alfred the Great attempted unsuccessfully to breach the Danes' defences. The battle is described in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", and that account provides the earliest known written record of the existence of Reading. The Danes remained in Reading until late in 871, when
Battle of Takusa Battle of Takusa The Battle of Takusa was fought on April 12, 1853, between the forces of Kassa Hailu, future Emperor of Ethiopia, and an alliance of several rival warlords. The forces of Hailu's enemies were led by Dejazmach Birru Aligaz, who was reinforced by troops sent to him by Wube Haile Maryam under the command of his son, Gwangul Wube. According to Sven Rubenson, this battle is famous "as the battle in which he [Kassa] fought four "dejazmaches" and killed two, Dejazmach Birru Aligaz and Belew." However, Harold Marcus states that Kassa defeated five Dejazmaches, and that Birru was