John Diefenbaker (1895–1979) led Canada as its 13th Prime Minister, serving from June 21, 1957 to April 22, 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead it to an election victory, doing so three times, although only once with a majority of the seats in the Canadian House of Commons. Diefenbaker was born in southwestern Ontario in 1895. In 1903, his family migrated west to the portion of the Northwest Territories which would shortly thereafter become the province of Saskatchewan. Diefenbaker contested elections through the 1920s and 1930s with little success until he was finally elected to the House of Commons in 1940. In the House of Commons, he was repeatedly a candidate for the party leadership. He was finally successful in 1956, and led his party for eleven years. In 1957, he led the party to its first electoral victory in 27 years and a year later called a snap election and led it to one of its greatest triumphs. Diefenbaker appointed the first woman minister to his Cabinet and the first aboriginal member of the Senate. During his six years as Prime Minister, his government obtained the passage of the Canadian Bill of Rights (which he introduced on July 1, 1960) and granted the vote to members of the First Nations and Inuit peoples.
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1569:
The Union of Lublin was signed, merging the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Lublin
1867:
The British North America Act came into effect, uniting the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia into the Canadian Confederation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Act%2C_1867
1916:
World War I: The first day of the Battle of Albert , the opening phase of the Battle of the Somme, became the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army, with 57,470 casualties of which 19,240 were killed or died of wounds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/first_day_on_the_Somme
1997:
The United Kingdom transferred sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China, ending over 150 years of British colonial rule. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfer_of_sovereignty_over_Hong_Kong
2002:
The Rome Statute entered into force, establishing the International Criminal Court to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome_Statute_of_the_International_Criminal_Court
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
incessantly (adv): In a manner without pause or stop, especially to the point of annoyance; not ceasing http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/incessantly
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
There are two kinds of truths: those of reasoning and those of fact. The truths of reasoning are necessary and their opposite is impossible; the truths of fact are contingent and their opposites are possible. --Gottfried Leibniz http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gottfried_Leibniz