William Borah (1865–1940) was an outspoken Republican United States Senator from the state of Idaho. A progressive who served in the Senate from 1907 until his death, he is often considered an isolationist. He reluctantly voted for U.S. entry into World War I in 1917 and, once the war ended, fought successfully against Senate ratification of the Treaty of Versailles, which would have made the U.S. part of the League of Nations. Remaining a maverick, he often fought with the Republican presidents in office between 1921 and 1933, though Coolidge offered to make Borah his running mate in 1924. Deprived of his post as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when the Democrats took control in 1933, Borah supported some New Deal legislation, but opposed other proposals. In his final years, he felt he might be able to settle differences in Europe by meeting with Hitler; though he did not go, this has not enhanced his historical reputation. His statue, presented by the state of Idaho in 1947, stands in the National Statuary Hall Collection.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Borah
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1460:
Wars of the Roses: Richard, Duke of York, was killed in the Battle of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, and his army was destroyed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wakefield
1813:
War of 1812: British forces captured Buffalo, New York, and engaged in considerable plundering and destruction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Buffalo
1906:
The All-India Muslim League, a political party in British India that developed into the driving force behind the creation of Pakistan as a Muslim state on the Indian subcontinent, was founded in Dhaka. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-India_Muslim_League
1954:
The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation was established to consolidate criminal investigation and intelligence into a single agency. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Bureau_of_Investigation_(Finland)
2009:
Pro-government counter-demonstrators held rallies in several Iranian cities in response to recent anti-government protests held on the holy day of Ashura. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_30,_2009_pro-government_rally_in_Iran
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
cognate accusative: (grammar) An object of kindred sense or derivation; specifically, that which may adverbially follow an intransitive verb (for example, the word death in “to die the death”). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cognate_accusative
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Skepticism, riddling the faith of yesterday, prepared the way for the faith of tomorrow. --Romain Rolland https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Romain_Rolland