Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901) was the 23rd President of the United
States, serving one term from 1889 to 1893. Harrison was born in North
Bend, Ohio, and at age 21 moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he
became a prominent state politician. During the American Civil War
Harrison served as a Brigadier General in the XXI Corps of the Army of
the Cumberland. After the war he unsuccessfully ran for the
governorship of Indiana, but was later elected to the U.S. Senate from
that state. Harrison, a Republican, was elected to the presidency in
1888, defeating the Democratic incumbent, Grover Cleveland. He is the
only president elected from the state of Indiana. His presidential
administration is best known for its economic legislation, including
the McKinley Tariff and the Sherman Antitrust Act, and for annual
federal spending that reached one billion dollars for the first time.
Democrats attacked the "Billion Dollar Congress", and used the issue,
along with the growing unpopularity of the high tariff, to defeat the
Republicans, both in the 1890 mid-term elections and in Harrison's bid
for re-election in 1892.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Harrison>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1411:
Forces of Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles fought an army commanded
by Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar at the Battle of Harlaw near
Inverurie in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Harlaw>
1567:
Mary Queen of Scots was forced to abdicate the Scottish throne and was
replaced by her one-year-old son James.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_I_of_Scotland>
1967:
During a speech in Montreal, French President Charles de Gaulle
declared "Long live free Quebec!", a statement that was interpreted as
support for Quebec independence from Canada.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vive_le_Qu%C3%A9bec_libre>
1977:
The Libyan–Egyptian War, a short border war between Libya and Egypt
over political conflicts, ended after the combatants agreed to a
ceasefire organized by Algeria.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan%E2%80%93Egyptian_War>
2001:
Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the last Tsar of Bulgaria when he was a
child, was sworn in as Prime Minister of Bulgaria, becoming one of the
first monarchs in history to regain political power through a
democratic election to a different office.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simeon_Saxe-Coburg-Gotha>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
lahar (n):
A volcanic mudflow
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lahar>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Many have puzzled themselves about the origin of evil. I am content to
observe that there is evil, and that there is a way to escape from it,
and with this I begin and end.
--John Newton
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Newton>