Spiro Agnew was the 39th Vice President of the United States from 1969
until his resignation in 1973. A Republican, Agnew was born in Baltimore
to a US-born mother and a Greek immigrant father. He became a lawyer,
then held minor political offices before his election in 1962 as
Baltimore County Executive. In 1966, he was unexpectedly elected
Governor of Maryland, and was a surprise choice as Richard Nixon's
running mate at the 1968 Republican National Convention. Initially
regarded as a progressive, after his election, Agnew moved to the right,
appealing to conservatives who were wary of stances taken by Nixon, and
also gained their applause for attacking the news media for bias. He had
accepted kickbacks during his time in Maryland, and he was investigated
for corruption in 1973. He pleaded no contest to tax evasion and
resigned from office. Despite his fall he is regarded as a significant
contributor to the Republican Party's move to the right.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiro_Agnew>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1757:
Seven Years' War: Prussian forces led by Frederick the Great
defeated the allied armies of France and the Holy Roman/Austrian Empire
at the Battle of Rossbach.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rossbach>
1925:
Sidney Reilly, a "super-spy" who was one of the inspirations
for James Bond, was executed by the Soviet secret police.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Reilly>
1950:
Korean War: The 27th British Commonwealth Brigade succeeded in
preventing a Chinese break-through at Pakchon in the Battle of Pakchon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pakchon>
2013:
The Indian Space Research Organisation launched the Mars
Orbiter Mission, the nation's first interplanetary probe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Orbiter_Mission>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
recension:
1. A census, an enumeration, a review, a survey.
2. A critical revision of a text.
3. A text established by critical revision.
4. A family of manuscripts which share similar traits; the variety of a
language which is used in such manuscripts.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/recension>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is a mistake to think that the past is dead. Nothing that has
ever happened is quite without influence at this moment. The present is
merely the past rolled up and concentrated in this second of time. You,
too, are your past; often your face is your autobiography; you are what
you are because of what you have been; because of your heredity
stretching back into forgotten generations; because of every element of
environment that has affected you, every man or woman that has met you,
every book that you have read, every experience that you have had; all
these are accumulated in your memory, your body, your character, your
soul. So with a city, a country, and a race; it is its past, and cannot
be understood without it.
--Will Durant
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Will_Durant>