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>
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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>
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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>
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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>