Robert Roberts (1905–1974) was an English writer, teacher and social historian, noted for the evocative accounts of his working-class youth he gave in The Classic Slum (1971) and A Ragged Schooling (1976). Born and raised in a deprived district of Salford, Roberts left school at 14 for a seven-year apprenticeship as a brass finisher. Sacked once it ended, he spent three years unemployed, and attended evening classes. In 1929, he was hired as a teacher at a commercial college, but was dismissed in 1940 when he was exempted from conscription as a conscientious objector. He then spent years working as a farmhand, as well as teaching and writing. In 1957, he was hired to teach at Strangeways Prison in Manchester; his experiences there inspired his first book, Imprisoned Tongues (1968). In 1971, Roberts published The Classic Slum, a book about his boyhood, intermixed with social and oral history. Widely praised, it has become a key source for understanding the working-class experience in early-20th-century England.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Roberts_%28author%29
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1814:
War of the Sixth Coalition: Napoleon's army forced Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov's Russian troops to withdraw from the Chemin des Dames, but French casualties exceeded Russian losses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Craonne
1985:
The charity single "We Are the World" by the supergroup United Support of Artists for Africa was released, and went on to sell more than 20 million copies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_the_World
2009:
The Kepler space telescope (depicted), designed to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars, was launched. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler_space_telescope
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
nervous: 1. Easily agitated or alarmed; edgy, on edge. 2. Apprehensive, anxious, hesitant, worried. 3. Relating to or affecting the nerves. 4. (archaic) Having nerves; nervose. 5. (obsolete) Showing nervous strength; sinewy, vigorous. 6. (obsolete) Of a piece of writing: forceful, powerful. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nervous
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
There was a lot of talk about humanitarian corridors. Every day they talked about the opportunity for people to get out of the cities where Russia moved in, the Russian military. I am grateful to every Ukrainian and everyone who stays around to defend our cities, our freedom. But I also know that there are people who really need to flee, who can't stay, and we heard the promise that there will be humanitarian corridors. There are none! Instead of humanitarian corridors, they can only ensure bloody ones. --Volodymyr Zelenskyy https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Zelenskyy