Sid McMath was a U.S. Marine hero and progressive Democratic reform
Governor of the State of Arkansas from 1949–1953. In defiance of his
state's political establishment, he championed rapid extension of
rural electric power, massive highway and school construction, the
building of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, repeal of
the poll tax, open and honest elections and broad expansion of
opportunity for black citizens in the decade following World War II.
He remained loyal to President Harry S. Truman during the "Dixiecrat"
rebellion of 1948, campaigning throughout the South for Truman's
re-election. As a former governor, McMath led the opposition to
segregationist Governor Orval Faubus following the 1957 Little Rock
school crisis. He later became one of the nation's foremost trial
advocates, representing thousands of injured persons in
precedent-setting cases and mentoring several generations of young
attorneys.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_McMath
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Today's selected anniversaries:
303:
Roman Emperor Galerius began to persecute Christians.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galerius)
1582:
Pope Gregory XIII announced the Gregorian calendar, a modification of
the Julian calendar in use since 45 BC.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar)
1803:
Marbury v. Madison established judicial review in the United States.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marbury_v._Madison)
1848:
Louis-Philippe, the Orléanist King of the French, abdicated and
escaped to England.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis-Philippe_of_France)
1946:
Colonel Juan Perón was elected to his first term as President of
Argentina.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Per%F3n)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"We think basically you watch television to turn your brain off, and
you work on your computer when you want to turn your brain on." --
Steve Jobs
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs)