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>
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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>
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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>
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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>