Chinua Achebe (16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian
novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as the dominant figure of
modern African literature. He garnered international attention for his
novel Things Fall Apart (1958) and published three further novels in
less than ten years. Achebe sought to escape the colonial perspective
that framed African literature. He drew from the traditions of the Igbo
people, Christianity and the clash of Western and African values. Achebe
supported Biafran independence in 1967 and was an ambassador for the
movement; during the Nigerian Civil War he appealed to Europe and the
Americas for aid. When the Nigerian government retook the region, he
involved himself in political parties but became disillusioned by the
corruption and elitism he witnessed. He moved to the United States in
1990 after a car crash left him partially disabled. He was a professor
of African studies at Brown University until his death in 2013.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinua_Achebe>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1814:
War of the Sixth Coalition: During their march on Paris,
Coalition forces defeated Napoleon's French army on the final day of the
Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arcis-sur-Aube>
1918:
First World War: The German Army opened the Spring Offensive
with Operation Michael, attempting to break through the Allied lines and
to seize ports on the English Channel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Michael>
1960:
Police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire on a group of
unarmed black demonstrators who were protesting pass laws, killing 69
people and wounding 180 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharpeville_massacre>
2019:
A major explosion at a chemical plant in Yancheng, China,
killed 78 people and injured 640 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Xiangshui_chemical_plant_explosion>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
gelotology:
(psychology, physiology) The study of humour and laughter, and its
effects on the body.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gelotology>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the
time, and a courageous person afterward.
--Jean Paul
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_Paul>