Ezra Meeker (1830–1928) was an American pioneer who traveled the
Oregon Trail by ox-drawn wagon in 1852, migrating from Iowa to the
Oregon Territory with his wife and newborn son. Although they endured
hardships in the journey of nearly six months, the entire Meeker party
survived. In 1862, he settled at the present site of Puyallup,
Washington, where he grew hops for use in brewing beer. His business
made him wealthy, and he served as Puyallup's first mayor, but an
infestation of hop aphids in 1891 destroyed his crops and took much of
his fortune. He made four trips to the Klondike during the gold rush
there, bringing groceries in an unsuccessful attempt to recoup his
losses. After the turn of the 20th century, Meeker, convinced that the
Oregon Trail was being forgotten, determined to bring it publicity. In
1906–1908, although in his late 70s, he retraced his steps along the
Oregon Trail by wagon, seeking to build monuments in communities along
the way; he reached New York and Washington, D.C., where he met
President Theodore Roosevelt. He wrote several books, and traveled the
Trail again several times in the final two decades of his life,
including by airplane in 1924.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Meeker>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1529:
War of the League of Cognac: The French army under Francis de
Bourbon was destroyed in Lombardy, present-day Italy, by the Spanish
army.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Landriano>
1826:
Greek War of Independence: A combined Egyptian and Ottoman army
began their invasion of the Mani Peninsula, but they were initially held
off by the Maniots at the fortifications of Vergas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman%E2%80%93Egyptian_invasion_of_Mani>
1848:
In the Wallachian Revolution, Ion Heliade Rădulescu and
Christian Tell proclaimed a new republican government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallachian_Revolution_of_1848>
1963:
Italian cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini was elected as Pope
Paul VI (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Paul_VI>
2004:
SpaceShipOne completed the first privately funded human
spaceflight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceShipOne>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
angst:
1. A feeling of acute but vague anxiety or apprehension often accompanied
by depression, especially philosophical anxiety.
2. More commonly, painful sadness or emotional turmoil, as teen angst.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/angst>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Cause, Principle, and One eternal From whom being, life, and
movement are suspended, And which extends itself in length, breadth, and
depth, To whatever is in Heaven, on Earth, and Hell; With sense, with
reason, with mind, I discern, That there is no act, measure, nor
calculation, which can comprehend That force, that vastness and that
number, Which exceeds whatever is inferior, middle, and highest; Blind
error, avaricious time, adverse fortune, Deaf envy, vile madness,
jealous iniquity, Crude heart, perverse spirit, insane audacity, Will
not be sufficient to obscure the air for me, Will not place the veil
before my eyes, Will never bring it about that I shall not Contemplate
my beautiful Sun.
--Giordano Bruno
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno>