William Cooley (1783–1863) was one of the first American settlers in
what is now Broward County, in the US state of Florida. Born in
Maryland, he arrived in East Florida as part of a military expedition.
He was a farmer in the northern part of the territory before moving
south, where he traded with local Indians and continued to farm. He
sided with natives in a land dispute against a merchant who had received
a large grant from the King of Spain and was evicting them from their
lands. Unhappy with the actions of the Spanish, he moved to the New
River in 1826, an area removed from their influence. He was a salvager
and farmer, cultivating and milling arrowroot. His fortune and influence
grew, and he became the first judge in the settlement. His decision in a
case involving the murder of a local chief antagonized the natives, who
attacked the settlement in revenge in January 1836 during the Second
Seminole War, killing his family. Cooley was one of the first city
councilors of Tampa, serving three terms.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cooley>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1903:
Macedonian rebels in Kruševo proclaimed a republic, which
existed only ten days before Ottoman forces destroyed the town.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kru%C5%A1evo_Republic>
1913:
A strike by agricultural workers in Wheatland, California,
U.S., degenerated into a riot, one of the first major farm labor
confrontations in California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheatland_hop_riot>
1929:
Jiddu Krishnamurti, believed to likely be the messianic "World
Teacher", shocked the Theosophy movement by dissolving the Order of the
Star, the organisation established to support him.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Star_in_the_East>
1940:
World War II: Italy invaded British Somaliland, capturing the
region 16 days later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_conquest_of_British_Somaliland>
2007:
Former Deputy Director of the Chilean secret police Raúl
Iturriaga was captured after having been on the run following a
conviction for kidnapping.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%BAl_Iturriaga>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
aye-aye:
The lemur Daubentonia madagascariensis, a solitary nocturnal quadruped
found in Madagascar and remarkable for its long fingers, sharp nails,
and rodent-like incisor teeth.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aye-aye>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
What do you mean by faith? Is faith enough for Man? Should he be
satisfied with faith alone? Is the attitude of faith, of believing in
something for which there can be no more than philosophic proof the true
mark of a Christian?
--Clifford D. Simak
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Clifford_D._Simak>