"This Dust Was Once the Man" is an elegy poem written by Walt Whitman in
1871. The poem is dedicated to Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of
the United States, whom Whitman greatly admired. The poem was written
six years after Lincoln's assassination in April 1865 at the hands of
John Wilkes Booth. Whitman had written three previous poems about
Lincoln, all in 1865: "O Captain! My Captain!", "When Lilacs Last in the
Dooryard Bloom'd", and "Hush'd Be the Camps To-Day". The poem has
not
attracted much individual attention, though it was generally positively
received and has been analyzed several times, generally as an epitaph
for Lincoln. The poem describes Lincoln as having saved the union of the
United States from "the foulest crime in history", a line that scholars
have conflicting interpretations of. It is generally seen as referring
to either the secession of the Confederate States of America or the
assassination of Lincoln. (This article is part of a featured topic:
Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln.).
Read more:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Walt_Whitman_and_Abraham_Lincoln>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1807:
In an effort to avoid engaging in the Napoleonic Wars, the
United States Congress passed the Embargo Act, forbidding American ships
from engaging in trade with foreign nations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embargo_Act_of_1807>
1971:
Two groups of French doctors involved in humanitarian aid
merged to form Médecins Sans Frontières.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9decins_Sans_Fronti%C3%A8res>
1984:
While riding a New York City Subway train, Bernhard Goetz shot
four African-American youths who had attempted to rob him, sparking a
nationwide debate on vigilantism, racism, and the legal limits of self-
defense.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_New_York_City_Subway_shooting>
2001:
Richard Reid unsuccessfully attempted to detonate a bomb in his
shoe on a transatlantic flight from Paris to Miami.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Reid>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lotologist:
A person who collects lottery tickets.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lotologist>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds, and
until we know what has been or will be the peculiar combination of
outward with inward facts, which constitutes a man’s critical actions,
it will be better not to think ourselves wise about his character.
--George Eliot
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Eliot>