Elliott Fitch Shepard (1833–1893) was a New York lawyer, the owner of
the Mail and Express newspaper, and a founder of three banks as well as
the New York State Bar Association. He was born in Jamestown, New York,
one of three sons of the president of a banknote-engraving company.
During the American Civil War, Shepard earned the rank of colonel and
was a Union Army recruiter. After attending the City University of New
York, he practiced law for about 25 years. One of his residences,
Woodlea, and the church he founded nearby, Scarborough Presbyterian, are
contributing properties in the historic district of Scarborough-on-
Hudson in the village of Briarcliff Manor. Woodlea, one of the largest
privately owned houses in the United States at the time, is now part of
Sleepy Hollow Country Club. Shepard was married to Margaret Louisa
Vanderbilt, granddaughter of philanthropist, business magnate, and
family patriarch Cornelius Vanderbilt. Deeply religious, Shepard became
the controlling stockholder of the Fifth Avenue Stage Company so he
could force it to close on Sundays.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_Fitch_Shepard>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1139:
Prince Afonso Henriques led Portuguese troops to victory over
the Almoravid Moors at the Battle of Ourique.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ourique>
1609:
During a hurricane, the crew of the English sailing ship Sea
Venture grounded her on the reefs of Bermuda, which is widely believed
to have inspired Shakepeare's The Tempest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Venture>
1898:
Spanish–American War: After over two months of sea-based
bombardment, the United States invaded Puerto Rico.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rican_Campaign>
1957:
More than a year after obtaining independence from France,
Tunisia abolished its monarchy, the Husainid Dynasty, and became a
republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisia>
2007:
Pratibha Patil was sworn in as the first female President of
India.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratibha_Patil>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
eviscerate:
1. (transitive) To disembowel, to remove the viscera.
2. (transitive) To destroy or make ineffectual or meaningless.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eviscerate>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The autonomous individual, striving to realize himself and prove
his worth, has created all that is great in literature, art, music,
science and technology. The autonomous individual, also, when he can
neither realize himself nor justify his existence by his own efforts, is
a breeding call of frustration, and the seed of the convulsions which
shake our world to its foundations.
--Eric Hoffer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eric_Hoffer>