Keen Johnson was the 45th Governor of Kentucky (1939–1943) and the
only journalist to have held that office. Born on January 12, 1896, he
served in World War I and earned a journalism degree from the University
of Kentucky. Johnson served as lieutenant governor under Governor A. B.
"Happy" Chandler from 1935 to 1939. He had already secured the
Democratic gubernatorial nomination when Chandler resigned and elevated
him to governor so that he could appoint Chandler to the U.S. Senate.
Johnson went on to win a full gubernatorial term in the general
election. He ran a fiscally conservative administration and took the
state from a $7 million shortfall to a surplus of $10 million by the
end of his term. Afterwards, Johnson joined Reynolds Metals as a special
assistant to the president. He took a one-year leave of absence to serve
as the first U.S. Undersecretary of Labor in 1946, then continued
working for the company until 1961. He unsuccessfully ran for a seat in
the U.S. Senate in 1960, losing to incumbent Republican John Sherman
Cooper. He died in 1970 in Richmond, Kentucky.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keen_Johnson>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1808:
John Rennie's scheme to defend St Mary's Church, Reculver, from
coastal erosion was abandoned in favour of demolition, despite the
church being an exemplar of Anglo-Saxon architecture.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mary%27s_Church,_Reculver>
1899:
During a storm, the crew of the Lynmouth Lifeboat Station
transported their 10-ton lifeboat 15 mi (24 km) overland in order to
rescue a damaged schooner.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynmouth_Lifeboat_Station>
1921:
Seeking to restore confidence after the Black Sox Scandal,
owners of Major League Baseball teams elected former United States
district court judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis as the league's first
commissioner.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenesaw_Mountain_Landis>
1967:
Seventy-three-year-old psychology professor James Bedford
became the first person to be cryonically frozen with intent of future
resuscitation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics>
2007:
Comet McNaught reached perihelion and became the brightest
comet in over 40 years with an apparent magnitude of −5.5.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2006_P1>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
liege:
1. A free and independent person; specifically, a lord paramount; a
sovereign.
2. The subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/liege>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Look up here, I’m in heaven I’ve got scars that can’t be
seen I’ve got drama, can’t be stolen Everybody knows me now Look up
here, man, I’m in danger I’ve got nothing left to lose I’m so high
it makes my brain whirl Dropped my cell phone down below Ain’t that
just like me
--David Bowie
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Bowie>