Henry W. Sawyer (1918–1999) was an American lawyer, civil rights
activist, and Democratic politician. Born in Philadelphia, he served in
World War II and attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
After graduating, he joined the law firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath and
remained with them for his entire career. Sawyer worked as a corporate
lawyer but is best known for his advocacy of civil liberties, especially
in First Amendment cases. In Abington School District v. Schempp and
Lemon v. Kurtzman, he successfully argued cases before the Supreme Court
of the United States (building pictured) that became the basis for all
modern Establishment Clause jurisprudence. He pursued civil rights
causes in Philadelphia and in the South during the civil rights movement
of the 1960s. He also served a four-year term on the Philadelphia City
Council, where he worked on civil service reform and the acquisition of
public art for the city.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_W._Sawyer>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1423:
Hundred Years' War: The English and their Burgundian allies
were victorious over the French at the Battle of Cravant near Auxerre,
France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cravant>
1941:
The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Hermann
Göring authorised SS General Reinhard Heydrich to handle preparations
for "the Final Solution of the Jewish question".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Solution>
1971:
Apollo program: The first Lunar Roving Vehicle was used during
the Apollo 15 mission to the Moon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_15>
2012:
The largest power outage in history occurred across 22 Indian
states, affecting more than 620 million people, or about 9 percent of
the world's population.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_India_blackouts>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
aposematism:
(biology, chiefly zoology) An adaptation, especially a form of
coloration, that warns off potential predators.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aposematism>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Those who choose not to empathize enable real monsters; for
without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude
with it through our own apathy.
--J. K. Rowling
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._K._Rowling>