Simonie Michael (1933–2008) was a Canadian politician from the eastern
Northwest Territories (later Nunavut) who was the first Inuk elected to
a legislature in Canada. Before becoming involved in politics, Michael
worked as a carpenter and business owner, and was one of very few
translators between Inuktitut and English. He became a prominent member
of the Inuit co-operative housing movement and a community activist in
Iqaluit, and was appointed to a series of governing bodies, including
the precursor to the Iqaluit City Council. He became the first elected
Inuk member of the Northwest Territories Legislative Council in 1966,
where he worked on infrastructure and public health initiatives. Michael
is credited with bringing public attention to the dehumanizing effects
of the disc number system, in which Inuit were assigned alphanumerical
identifiers in place of surnames. Michael helped prompt the government
to authorise Project Surname, which replaced the disc numbers with
names.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simonie_Michael>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1279:
The Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order suffered a great loss
when 71 knights died in the Battle of Aizkraukle.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Aizkraukle>
1824:
The First Anglo-Burmese War, the longest and most expensive war
in British Indian history, began.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Anglo-Burmese_War>
1966:
BOAC Flight 911 disintegrated and crashed near Mount Fuji
shortly after departure from Tokyo International Airport, killing all
113 passengers and 11 crew members on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOAC_Flight_911>
1975:
Computer hobbyists in Silicon Valley held the first meeting of
the Homebrew Computer Club (founder pictured), whose members went on to
have great influence on the development of the personal computer.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homebrew_Computer_Club>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
anhelation:
1. (uncountable, pulmonology, archaic) Breathing difficulty, shortness
of breath.
2. (figuratively, obsolete)
3. (uncountable) Mental or spiritual agitation.
4. (uncountable) Followed by after or for: eager desire; (countable) an
instance of this.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anhelation>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Without general elections, without unrestricted freedom of press
and assembly, without a free struggle of opinion, life dies out in every
public institution, becomes a mere semblance of life, in which only the
bureaucracy remains as the active element. Public life gradually falls
asleep, a few dozen party leaders of inexhaustible energy and boundless
experience direct and rule.
--Rosa Luxemburg
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rosa_Luxemburg>