Rochdale Cenotaph is a First World War memorial on the Esplanade in
Rochdale, Greater Manchester, in the north west of England. Designed by
Sir Edwin Lutyens, it is one of seven memorials in England based on his
Cenotaph on Whitehall in London, and one of his more ambitious designs.
The memorial was unveiled in 1922 and consists of a 10-metre (33 ft)
pylon, topped by an effigy of a recumbent soldier, and Lutyens'
characteristic Stone of Remembrance. A public meeting in February 1919
established a consensus to create a monument and a fund for the families
of wounded servicemen. The meeting agreed to commission Lutyens to
design the monument. His design for a bridge over the River Roch was
abandoned after a local dignitary purchased a plot of land adjacent to
Rochdale Town Hall and donated it for the site of the memorial. Lutyens
revised his design, and Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, unveiled the
memorial on 26 November 1922. It was upgraded to a Grade I listed
structure in 2015, when Lutyens' war memorials were declared a national
collection by Historic England.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochdale_Cenotaph>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1693:
An intensity XI earthquake, the most powerful in Italian
history, struck the island of Sicily.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1693_Sicily_earthquake>
1787:
German-born British astronomer William Herschel discovered two
Uranian moons, later named, by his son, Oberon and Titania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titania_(moon)>
1927:
Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer invited 36 people
involved in the film industry to a banquet, where he announced the
creation of what would become the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_of_Motion_Picture_Arts_and_Sciences>
1946:
Albania was proclaimed the People's Republic of Albania with
Enver Hoxha (pictured)) as the de facto head of state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enver_Hoxha>
1986:
The Gateway Bridge was opened in Brisbane, Australia, the
largest prestressed concrete, single box bridge in the world.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Everester:
Someone who climbs Mount Everest.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Everester>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is immense silent agony in the world, and the task of man is
to be a voice for the plundered poor, to prevent the desecration of the
soul and the violation of our dream of honesty. The more deeply immersed
I became in the thinking of the prophets, the more powerfully it became
clear to me what the lives of the Prophets sought to convey: that
morally speaking, there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the
suffering of human beings, that indifference to evil is worse than evil
itself, that in a free society, some are guilty, but all are
responsible.
--Abraham Joshua Heschel
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abraham_Joshua_Heschel>
Hrithik Roshan (born 10 January 1974) is an Indian Bollywood actor. His
first leading role was in his father Rakesh's Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai
(2000), a box-office success that earned him several awards. After a
series of unsuccessful films, he starred in the 2003 science fiction
film Koi... Mil Gaya, which proved a turning point in his career; he
also appeared in its highly successful sequels: Krrish (2006) and Krrish
3 (2013). Roshan earned widespread praise for his roles in Dhoom 2
(2006), Jodhaa Akbar (2008) and Guzaarish (2010). Further success came
with the 2011 drama Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, the 2012 revenge film
Agneepath, and Bang Bang!, a 2014 action comedy. One of the highest-paid
actors in India, he has won many awards, including six Filmfares. He has
also performed on stage, launched his own clothing line and debuted on
television with Just Dance (2011). As a judge on the show, he became the
highest-paid film star on Indian television. Roshan was married for
fourteen years to Sussanne Khan, with whom he has two children.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hrithik_Roshan>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1475:
Moldavian–Ottoman Wars: Moldavian forces under Stephen the
Great defeated an Ottoman attack led by Hadân Suleiman Pasha, the
Beylerbeyi of Rumelia, near Vaslui in present-day Romania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vaslui>
1812:
New Orleans, the first steamship on the Mississippi River,
arrived in its namesake city, to complete its maiden voyage
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans_(steamboat)>
1929:
The Adventures of Tintin, a series of popular comic books
created by Belgian artist Hergé, first appeared in a children's
supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Tintin>
1966:
India and Pakistan signed the Tashkent Declaration to end the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tashkent_Declaration>
1993:
The Braer Storm, the strongest extratropical cyclone ever
recorded in the North Atlantic, reached its peak intensity.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braer_Storm_of_January_1993>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
spendthrift:
1. Improvident, profligate, or wasteful.
2. Extravagant or lavish.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spendthrift>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There are two things which cannot be attacked in front: ignorance
and narrow-mindedness. They can only be shaken by the simple development
of the contrary qualities. They will not bear discussion.
--John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Dalberg-Acton,_1st_Baron_Acton>
Der 100. Psalm (The 100th Psalm), Op. 106, is a composition in four
movements by Max Reger in D major for mixed choir and orchestra, a late
Romantic setting of Psalm 100. Reger began composing the work in 1908
for the 350th anniversary of Jena University. It premiered
simultaneously on 23 February 1910 in Chemnitz, conducted by the
composer, and in Breslau, conducted by Georg Dohrn. Reger structured the
text in four movements, as a choral symphony. He scored it for a choir
of four to eight voices, a large symphony orchestra, and organ. Reger
used late-Romantic features of harmony and dynamics, along with
polyphony in the Baroque tradition. The last movement is a double fugue,
with an instrumental cantus firmus of Luther's chorale "Ein feste Burg
ist unser Gott" as its climax. The biographer Eugen Segnitz considered
the work unique in the sacred music of its period, with a convincing
musical interpretation of the biblical text and manifold shades of
emotion. Paul Hindemith wrote a trimmed adaption that helped to keep the
work in the repertory, and organ versions were written to make the work
accessible for smaller choirs.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_100._Psalm>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
475:
Basiliscus became Byzantine Emperor after Zeno was forced to
flee Constantinople.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basiliscus>
1909:
Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition, planted the
British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km) from the South Pole, the
furthest south anyone had ever reached at that time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farthest_South>
1917:
First World War: Troops of the British Empire defeated Ottoman
forces at the Battle of Rafa on the Sinai–Palestine border in present-
day Rafah.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rafa>
1972:
The Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association
lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, ending a 33-game winning streak, the
longest of any team in American professional sports.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Lakers>
1996:
First Chechen War: Chechen separatists launched raids in the
city of Kizlyar, Dagestan, which turned into a massive hostage crisis
involving thousands of civilians.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye_hostage_crisis>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
man down:
1. (transitive, idiomatic) To lose courage or cause to lose courage.
2. (transitive) To reduce in manpower.
3. (transitive, chiefly falconry) To train (a raptor or other type of bird)
to become accustomed to the presence of people; to man.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/man_down>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I know that it can be very easy, under the intensive pressures of
a campaign, for even well-intentioned people to fall into shady tactics
— to rationalize this on the grounds that what is at stake is of such
importance to the Nation that the end justifies the means. And both of
our great parties have been guilty of such tactics in the past. In
recent years, however, the campaign excesses that have occurred on all
sides have provided a sobering demonstration of how far this false
doctrine can take us. The lesson is clear: America, in its political
campaigns, must not again fall into the trap of letting the end, however
great that end is, justify the means. I urge the leaders of both
political parties, I urge citizens, all of you, everywhere, to join in
working toward a new set of standards, new rules and procedures to
ensure that future elections will be as nearly free of such abuses as
they possibly can be made. This is my goal. I ask you to join in making
it America's goal.
--Richard Nixon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon>
The periodic table is a chart of the chemical elements, ordered by their
atomic number and electron configurations. The elements in each group
(column) often have similar chemical properties. The table also shows
four rectangular blocks with some similarities in physical and chemical
properties. Six groups have generally accepted names, including the
halogens of group 17 and the noble gases of group 18. The table provides
a framework for analyzing chemical behaviour, and is extensively used in
chemistry and other sciences. The Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev
published the first widely recognized periodic table in 1869, and
correctly predicted some properties of then-unknown elements that would
be expected to fill in the gaps. Mendeleev's periodic table has been
expanded and refined over time; elements 1–94 have all been found to
occur naturally, and elements 95–118 have been synthesized in nuclear
reactors or laboratories.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodic_table>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1697:
Scottish student Thomas Aikenhead became the last person in
Britain to be executed for blasphemy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aikenhead>
1889:
Statistician Herman Hollerith received a patent for his
electric tabulating machine, the precursor to modern computers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Hollerith>
1936:
Reza Shah issued the Kashf-e hijab decree, ordering police to
physically remove hijab from any woman in public.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashf-e_hijab>
1978:
Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of
Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man elected into public
office in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Milk>
2010:
Gunmen from an offshoot of the Front for the Liberation of the
Enclave of Cabinda attacked the bus transporting the Togo national
football team to the Africa Cup of Nations, killing three.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togo_national_football_team_attack>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mendacity:
1. (uncountable) The fact or condition of being untruthful; dishonesty.
2. (countable) A deceit, falsehood, or lie.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mendacity>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
To bargain freedom for security is the devil's bargain. Having
made the bargain, one enjoys neither freedom nor security.
--Gerry Spence
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gerry_Spence>
William of Wrotham (died c. 1217) was a medieval English royal
administrator and clergyman. Hubert Walter, who was the Archbishop of
Canterbury and the king's chief minister, gave William responsibility
for the royal tin mines in 1197, and the following year he was placed in
charge of tin production, an office later known as the Lord Warden of
the Stannaries. William also held ecclesiastical office, eventually
becoming Archdeacon of Taunton, and served King John of England as an
administrator of ecclesiastical lands and a collector of taxes. He was
in charge of the royal fleet in the south of England from 1206 until
1215, and was one of those responsible for the development of Portsmouth
as a naval dockyard. He is usually given the title of "keeper of ports"
or "keeper of galleys", probably a forerunner of the office of First
Lord of the Admiralty. By 1215 William had joined the First Barons' War
against John, but returned to the royalist cause after John's death in
1216. The medieval chronicler Roger of Wendover called him one of John's
"evil advisers", but modern historians say Roger's account was
exaggerated.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_of_Wrotham>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1610:
Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei made his first observation
of the four Galilean moons through his telescope: Ganymede, Callisto,
Io, and Europa, although he was not able to distinguish the latter two
until the following day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_(moon)>
1797:
The first official Italian tricolour was adopted by the
government of the Cispadane Republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Italy>
1948:
Air National Guard pilot Thomas Mantell fatally crashed his
P-51 Mustang while in pursuit of a UFO near Fort Knox, Kentucky.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantell_UFO_incident>
1978:
An article titled "Iran and Red and Black Colonization" was
published in the newspaper Ettela'at to attack Ruhollah Khomeini,
described as an Indian Sayyed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_and_Red_and_Black_Colonization>
2012:
A hot air balloon flight from Carterton, New Zealand, collided
with a power line while landing, causing it to catch fire, disintegrate
and crash, killing all eleven people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Carterton_hot_air_balloon_crash>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
wide of the mark:
1. Of a projectile: missing the target.
2. (idiomatic) (Very) inaccurate.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wide_of_the_mark>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let us remember that revolutions do not always establish freedom.
Our own free institutions were not the offspring of our Revolution. They
existed before.
--Millard Fillmore
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Millard_Fillmore>
The Three Sisters are volcanic peaks of the Cascade Volcanic Arc in
Oregon in the northwestern United States. More than 10,000 feet
(3,000 m) in elevation, they are the third-, fourth-, and fifth-highest
peaks in Oregon. They are about 10 miles (16 km) south of the nearest
town, Sisters, in the Three Sisters Wilderness. The three mountains,
particularly South Sister, are popular destinations for climbing and
scrambling. They are subject to frequent snowfall, occasional rain, and
extreme temperature variation between seasons. Although they are often
grouped together as a complex volcano, the three mountains differ in
geology and eruptive history. Neither North Sister nor Middle Sister has
erupted in the last 14,000 years. South Sister last erupted about 2,000
years ago, and there are indications it could erupt again. After
satellite imagery detected tectonic uplift near South Sister in 2000,
the United States Geological Survey improved monitoring in the immediate
area.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(Oregon)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1066:
Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon king before the Norman
conquest, was crowned King of England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Godwinson>
1912:
German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presented his theory
of continental drift.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_drift>
1941:
During his State of the Union Address, U.S. President Franklin
D. Roosevelt presented his Four Freedoms as fundamental freedoms humans
everywhere in the world ought to enjoy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Freedoms>
1953:
The first Asian Socialist Conference, an organisation of
socialist political parties in Asia, opened in Rangoon, Burma, with 177
delegates, observers and fraternal guests.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Socialist_Conference>
1994:
Two-time American Olympic figure skating medalist Nancy
Kerrigan was hit on the leg with a police baton by an assailant hired by
the ex-husband of her rival Tonya Harding.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonya_Harding>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Twelfth Day:
(Christianity) Synonym of Epiphany (“an annual Christian feast on the
twelfth day after Christmas Day (6 January) celebrating the appearance
of Jesus Christ to the Magi”).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Twelfth_Day>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There are different forms of anarchy and different currents in it.
I must, first say very simply what anarchy I have in view. By anarchy I
mean first an absolute rejection of violence. Hence I cannot accept
either nihilists or anarchists who choose violence as a means of
action.
--Jacques Ellul
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jacques_Ellul>
Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) is the fourth studio
album by American rock band Marilyn Manson, released in November 2000 by
Nothing and Interscope Records. A rock opera concept album, it is the
final installment of a triptych that included Antichrist Superstar
(1996), marking a return to the band's industrial metal style. The album
was released to generally positive reviews; some praised it as the
band's finest work, and multiple publications ranked it as one of the
best albums of 2000. British rock magazine Kerrang! later included it on
its list of the best albums of the decade. Holy Wood was not as
commercially successful in the US as the band's preceding records,
debuting at number 13 on the Billboard 200, but it became their most
successful album internationally, and made the top twenty of numerous
national charts. It was certified gold in several countries, including
Canada, Japan, Switzerland and the UK. Three singles were released from
the record: "Disposable Teens", "The Fight Song" and "The Nobodies". The
album was covered on the band's worldwide Guns, God and Government Tour.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Wood_(In_the_Shadow_of_the_Valley_of_Dea…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1675:
Franco-Dutch War: The French Army fought against the armies of
Austria and Brandenburg.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Turckheim>
1925:
Nellie Tayloe Ross was inaugurated as Governor of Wyoming, the
first woman to serve as governor of a U.S. state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_Tayloe_Ross>
1941:
Second World War: Australian and British troops defeated
Italian forces in Bardia, Libya, the first battle of the war in which an
Australian Army formation took part.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bardia>
1968:
Alexander Dubček came to power in Czechoslovakia, beginning a
period of political liberalization known as the Prague Spring that ended
with a military intervention by the Warsaw Pact nations to halt reform.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Spring>
2008:
Mikheil Saakashvili was decisively re-elected as President of
Georgia in "the first genuinely competitive presidential election" in
the history of the country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_presidential_election,_2008>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
volition:
1. A conscious choice or decision.
2. The mental power or ability of choosing; the will.
3. (linguistics) A concept that distinguishes whether or not the subject or
agent intended something.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/volition>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
How should we deal with intrusions of fiction into life, now that
we have seen the historical impact that this phenomenon can have? …
Reflecting on these complex relationships between reader and story,
fiction and life, can constitute a form of therapy against the sleep of
reason, which generates monsters.
--Umberto Eco
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Umberto_Eco>
Lilias Armstrong (1882–1937) was an English phonetician. Her book on
English intonation, written with Ida C. Ward, was in print for fifty
years. She also provided some of the first detailed descriptions of tone
in Somali and Kikuyu. Armstrong grew up in Northern England. She
graduated from the University of Leeds, where she studied French and
Latin. She taught French in an elementary school in the London suburbs
before joining the University College Phonetics Department, headed by
Daniel Jones, where she was eventually appointed as a reader. Her works
include the 1926 book A Handbook of English Intonation (co-written with
Ward), the 1934 paper "The Phonetic Structure of Somali", and the book
The Phonetic and Tonal Structure of Kikuyu, published posthumously in
1940. She was the subeditor of the International Phonetic Association's
journal Le Maître Phonétique for more than a decade, and was praised
in her day for her teaching. Jones wrote in his obituary of her that she
was "one of the finest phoneticians in the world".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilias_Armstrong>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1798:
After having been invested as Prince of Wallachia, Constantine
Hangerli arrived in Bucharest to assume the throne.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_Hangerli>
1885:
Sino-French War: French troops under General François Oscar de
Négrier defeated a numerically superior Qing Chinese force at Núi Bop
in northern Vietnam.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_N%C3%BAi_Bop>
1912:
The Boy Scout Association was incorporated throughout the then
British Empire by royal charter.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scout_Association>
1948:
Burma achieved independence from the British Empire, with Sao
Shwe Thaik as its first president.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sao_Shwe_Thaik>
2007:
Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the United States House of
Representatives, becoming the highest-ranking woman in the history of
the U.S. government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Pelosi>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
blossom:
1. A flower, especially one indicating that a fruit tree is fruiting;
(collectively) a mass of such flowers.
2. The state or season of producing such flowers.
3. (figuratively) A blooming period or stage of development; something
lovely that gives rich promise.
4. The colour of a horse that has white hairs intermixed with sorrel and
bay hairs.
5. (intransitive) To have, or open into, blossoms; to bloom.
6. (intransitive) To begin to thrive or flourish.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blossom>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I can calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies, but not the
madness of the people.
--Isaac Newton
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton>
The red-backed fairywren (Malurus melanocephalus) is a species in the
Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia and can
be found near rivers and coastal areas along the northern and eastern
coastlines from the Kimberley in the northwest to the Hunter Region in
New South Wales. Most males adopt a striking breeding plumage, with
brown wings, a brightly coloured red back, and a black head, upperparts
and tail. Females, juveniles, and some males have brownish upperparts
and paler underparts. The species mainly eats insects, and supplements
its diet with seed and small fruits. The preferred habitat is heathland
and savannah, particularly where low shrubs and tall grasses provide
cover. A group consists of a socially monogamous pair with one or more
grown offspring who assist in raising the young. The red-backed
fairywren is sexually promiscuous, and each partner may mate with other
individuals. As part of a courtship display, the male wren plucks red
petals from flowers and displays them to females.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-backed_fairywren>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1749:
The first issue of Berlingske, Denmark's oldest continually
operating newspaper, was published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlingske>
1777:
American Revolutionary War: American forces under General
George Washington defeated British troops at the Battle of Princeton
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Princeton>
1919:
Emir Faisal of Iraq signed an agreement with Zionist leader
Chaim Weizmann on the development of a Jewish homeland in Palestine and
an Arab nation in a large part of the Middle East.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal%E2%80%93Weizmann_Agreement>
1976:
The multilateral International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, part of the International Bill of Human Rights, came
into effect.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Covenant_on_Economic,_Social_an…>
1990:
United States invasion of Panama: General Manuel Noriega, the
deposed "strongman of Panama", surrendered to American forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Noriega>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
quacksalver:
(archaic) One falsely claiming to possess medical or other skills,
especially one who dispenses potions, ointments, etc., supposedly having
curative powers; a quack.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quacksalver>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The news today about "Atomic bombs" is so horrifying one is
stunned. The utter folly of these lunatic physicists to consent to do
such work for war-purposes: calmly plotting the destruction of the
world! Such explosives in men's hands, while their moral and
intellectual status is declining, is about as useful as giving out
firearms to all inmates of a gaol and then saying that you hope "this
will ensure peace". ... Well we're in God's hands. But He does not look
kindly on Babel-builders.
--J. R. R. Tolkien
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien>
Lawrence Wetherby (January 2, 1908 – March 27, 1994) was a lieutenant
governor (1947–1950) and governor (1950–1955) of the US state of
Kentucky. As governor, he helped increase funding for education,
government benefits, road construction, and industrial diversification.
He endorsed the Supreme Court's 1954 desegregation order in the case of
Brown v. Board of Education and appointed a biracial commission to
oversee the successful integration of the state's schools. As chair of
the Southern Governors Conference in 1954 and 1955, he encouraged other
southern governors to accept and implement desegregation. Wetherby was
limited to one term by the state constitution. His successor, fellow
Democrat A. B. "Happy" Chandler, failed to support his attempt in 1956
to succeed Alben Barkley in the US Senate, and he lost to Republican
John Sherman Cooper. From 1964 to 1966, Wetherby served on a commission
charged with revising the state constitution, and in 1966 he was elected
to the Kentucky Senate, where he provided leadership in drafting the
state budget. After retiring from politics, he worked as an engineering
consultant.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Wetherby>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1680:
Trunajaya rebellion: Amangkurat II of Mataram and his
bodyguards stabbed Trunajaya to death a week after the rebel leader
surrendered to the Dutch.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trunajaya_rebellion>
1865:
Uruguayan War: Brazilian and Colorado forces captured the city
of Paysandú from its Uruguayan defenders.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Paysand%C3%BA>
1941:
Second World War: Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales, was
severely damaged by German bombing during the Cardiff Blitz.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llandaff_Cathedral>
1967:
Former actor Ronald Reagan began his career in government when
he was sworn in as the 33rd Governor of California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan>
2004:
The Stardust space probe flew by the comet Wild 2 and collected
particle samples from its coma, which were later returned to Earth.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/81P/Wild>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
cloud nine:
1. (idiomatic) Often in the phrase on cloud nine: a state of bliss, elation
or happiness.
2. (idiomatic, possibly nonstandard) A state of fantastic or impractical
dreaming or thinking.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cloud_nine>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
To succeed, planning alone is insufficient. One must improvise as
well.
--Isaac Asimov
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov>