Hiram Wesley Evans (1881–1966) was Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, an American white supremacist group, from 1922 to 1939. Evans, a dentist, joined the Klan's Dallas chapter in 1920. He quickly rose through the ranks and, after ousting William J. Simmons as Imperial Wizard, sought to transform the group into a political juggernaut. Although Evans had led the kidnapping and torture of a black man while leader of the Dallas Klan, as Imperial Wizard he publicly discouraged vigilante actions. He also led major gatherings and marches, endorsed several successful candidates in state elections, and promoted the Klan as a nativist, Protestant group. Despite these efforts, the Klan was buffeted by damaging publicity in the early 1920s, and the Great Depression of the 1930s severely damaged the Klan's finances and Evans' own income. In 1939 Evans, having lost favor within the Klan for disavowing anti-Catholicism, was succeeded by James A. Colescott; the following year he was fined $15,000 for price fixing. Historians credit Evans with refocusing the Klan on political activities and recruiting outside the Southern United States but note that the political influence and membership gained were transitory.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiram_Wesley_Evans
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1571:
Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi established a council to govern the city of Manila, now the capital of the Philippines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila
1717:
The first Masonic Grand Lodge, the Premier Grand Lodge of England, was founded in London. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_Grand_Lodge_of_England
1880:
"O Canada" (audio featured), today the national anthem of Canada, was first performed in Quebec City, Quebec, during a Saint-Jean- Baptiste Day banquet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Canada
1937:
The United States' first two "fast battleships", the North Carolina class, were ordered from the New York and Philadelphia Naval Shipyards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina-class_battleship
1994:
A United States Air Force B-52 Stratofortress based at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane County, Washington, crashed, killing all four crew members, and later providing a case study on the importance of compliance with safety regulations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Fairchild_Air_Force_Base_B-52_crash
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
dead tree edition: (idiomatic, pejorative, humorous) Paper version of a publication that can be found online. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dead_tree_edition
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have said that God is pleased with nothing but love; but before I explain this, it will be as well to set forth the grounds on which the assertion rests. All our works, and all our labours, how grand soever they may be, are nothing in the sight of God, for we can give Him nothing, neither can we by them fulfil His desire, which is the growth of our soul. As to Himself He desires nothing of this, for He has need of nothing, and so, if He is pleased with anything it is with the growth of the soul; and as there is no way in which the soul can grow but in becoming in a manner equal to Him, for this reason only is He pleased with our love. --John of the Cross https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_of_the_Cross