John L. Helm (1802–1867) was the 18th and 24th governor of Kentucky, although his aggregate service in that office was less than fourteen months. He also represented Hardin County in both houses of the Kentucky General Assembly and was chosen Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives four times. In 1838 his sole bid for national office ended in defeat when his opponent, Willis Green, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. After his service as governor Helm became president of the struggling Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Although he openly opposed secession during the American Civil War, federal military forces labeled Helm a Confederate sympathizer. In September 1862, he was arrested for this alleged sympathy, but Governor James F. Robinson recognized him as he was being transported to a prison in Louisville and had him released. After the war Helm identified with the Democratic Party, and in 1865 Hardin County voters returned him to the state senate. In 1867 he was the state's Democratic candidate for governor. Despite his failing health, Helm made a vigorous canvass of the state and won the general election. He was too weak to travel to Frankfort for his inauguration, so state officials administered the oath of office at his home on September 3, 1867. He died five days later.
Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Helm
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1127:
Invading Jin soldiers besieged and sacked Kaifeng and abducted Emperor Qinzong and others, ending the Northern Song Dynasty of China. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Dynasty%23Northern_Song%2C_960%E2%80%931127
1768:
Philip Astley staged the first modern circus in London. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/circus
1909:
Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition, planted the British flag 97 miles (156 km) from the South Pole, the furthest anyone had ever reached at that time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Shackleton
1917:
World War I: Troops of the British Empire defeated Ottoman forces at the Battle of Rafa on the Sinai–Palestine border in present-day Rafah. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rafa
1972:
The Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, ending a 33-game winning streak, the longest of any team in American professional sports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Lakers
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring (adj): (idiomatic) [[unsuitable http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/neither_fish%2C_flesh%2C_nor_good_red_herring
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity. I want this adventure that is the context of my life to go on without end. --Simone de Beauvoir http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Simone_de_Beauvoir