Alben W. Barkley (November 24, 1877 – April 30, 1956) was the 35th Vice President of the United States, from 1949 to 1953. He was elected U.S. Representative from Kentucky's First District in 1912 as a liberal Democrat, supporting President Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom domestic agenda and foreign policy. In 1926 he entered the U.S. Senate, where he supported the New Deal, and was elected to succeed Senate Majority Leader Joseph T. Robinson upon Robinson's death in 1937. He resigned as majority leader after President Franklin D. Roosevelt ignored his advice and vetoed the Revenue Act of 1943, but the veto was overridden and he was unanimously re-elected to the position. Barkley had a better working relationship with Harry S. Truman, who ascended to the presidency after Roosevelt's death in 1945. At the 1948 Democratic National Convention, Barkley gave a keynote address that energized the delegates. Truman selected him as a running mate for the upcoming election and the Democratic ticket scored an upset victory.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alben_W._Barkley
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1542:
Anglo-Scottish Wars: England captured about 1,200 Scottish prisoners with its victory in the Battle of Solway Moss. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Solway_Moss
1859:
On the Origin of Species by British naturalist Charles Darwin was first published, and sold out its initial print run on the first day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species
1906:
A local newspaper accused members of two teams of conspiring to deliberately lose games, the first major scandal in American football. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_Bulldogs%E2%80%93Massillon_Tigers_betting_scandal
1922:
Irish Civil War: Author and Irish nationalist Robert Erskine Childers was executed by the Irish Free State for illegally carrying a semi-automatic pistol. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Erskine_Childers
1976:
The Çaldıran-Muradiye earthquake in eastern Turkey killed at least 4,000 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_%C3%87ald%C4%B1ran%E2%80%93Muradiye_earthquake
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
thank you: An expression of gratitude or politeness in response to something done or given. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thank_you
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am grateful for what I am & have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite — only a sense of existence. Well, anything for variety. I am ready to try this for the next 1000 years, & exhaust it. How sweet to think of! My extremities well charred, and my intellectual part too, so that there is no danger of worm or rot for a long while. My breath is sweet to me. O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it — for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment. --Henry David Thoreau https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau