Joseph A. Lopez (October 4, 1779 – October 5, 1841) was a Mexican
Catholic priest who became a prominent ally of Emperor Agustín de
Iturbide. As a priest in Peribán, he tried to arrest the first leader
of the Mexican War of Independence, Miguel Hidalgo. Unsuccessful, he
fled and became acquainted with Ana María Huarte, the wife of the
future emperor of Mexico, Agustín de Iturbide. As a result, he was sent
to Madrid to act as Iturbide's attorney and political informant, before
returning to Mexico as chaplain and educator of the imperial family. He
fled with the exiled family to Europe in 1823, and then returned to
Mexico. Following Iturbide's execution in 1824, Lopez fled with the
family to Washington, D.C., where he became chaplain to the Georgetown
Visitation Monastery, and became a Jesuit. In 1840, Lopez was named the
acting president of Georgetown University, becoming the first Latin
American president of a university in the United States. He soon fell
ill and was sent to St. Inigoes, Maryland, where he died.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_A._Lopez>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1917:
First World War: The Allies devastated the German defence at
the Battle of Broodseinde, prompting a crisis among their commanders and
causing a severe loss of morale in the 4th Army.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Broodseinde>
1957:
The Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 1 (replica pictured), the first
artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, was launched from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1>
2003:
A suicide bomber killed 21 people and injured 60 others inside
a restaurant in Haifa, Israel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxim_restaurant_suicide_bombing>
2010:
A waste-reservoir dam in western Hungary collapsed, freeing
1 million m3 (35 million cu ft) of red mud, which flooded nearby
communities and killed ten people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajka_alumina_plant_accident>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
orient:
1. (transitive) To build or place (something) so as to face eastward.
2. (transitive, by extension) To align or place (a person or object) so
that his, her, or its east side, north side, etc., is positioned toward
the corresponding points of the compass; (specifically, surveying) to
rotate (a map attached to a plane table) until the line of direction
between any two of its points is parallel to the corresponding direction
in nature.
3. (transitive) To direct towards or point at a particular direction.
4. (transitive, reflexive) To determine which direction one is facing.
5. (transitive, often reflexive, figurative) To familiarize (oneself or
someone) with a circumstance or situation.
6. (transitive, figurative) To set the focus of (something) so as to
appeal or relate to a certain group.
7. (intransitive) To change direction to face a certain way.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/orient>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have a talent for silence and brevity. I can keep silent when
it seems best to do so, and when I speak I can, and do usually, quit
when I am done. This talent, or these two talents, I have cultivated.
Silence and concise, brief speaking have got me some laurels, and, I
suspect, lost me some. No odds. Do what is natural to you, and you are
sure to get all the recognition you are entitled to.
--Rutherford B. Hayes
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rutherford_B._Hayes>