Albert Stanley, 1st Baron Ashfield (8 August 1874 – 4 November 1948), was the managing director and chairman of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) from 1910 to 1933, and the chairman of the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) from 1933 to 1947. At a young age, he held senior positions in the tramway systems of Detroit and New Jersey. In 1907 he was recruited by the UERL, where he integrated the company's management and used advertising and public relations to improve profits. As managing director of the UERL from 1910, he led the take-over of competing companies and operations to form Combine, an integrated transport operation. He was Member of Parliament for Ashton-under-Lyne from 1916 to 1920 and President of the Board of Trade between 1916 and 1919. He returned to the UERL and then chaired it and its successor the LPTB during the organisation's greatest period of expansion between the two world wars, making it an exemplar of the best form of public administration.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Stanley,_1st_Baron_Ashfield
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1919:
The Third Anglo-Afghan War ended with the United Kingdom signing a treaty to recognise the independence of the Emirate of Afghanistan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Anglo-Afghan_War
1929:
The German airship Graf Zeppelin departed Lakehurst, New Jersey, on a flight to circumnavigate the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_127_Graf_Zeppelin
2009:
Nine people died when a tour helicopter and a small private airplane collided over the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Hudson_River_mid-air_collision
2014:
The World Health Organization declared the Western African Ebola epidemic, which began in December 2013, to be a public health emergency of international concern. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_African_Ebola_epidemic
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
libertarian: 1. One who advocates liberty, either generally or in relation to a specific issue. 2. (philosophy) A believer in the freedom of thinking beings to choose their own destiny (the doctrine of free will) as opposed to those who believe the future is predetermined (the doctrine of necessity). 3. (politics) One who advocates libertarianism (“a political philosophy maintaining that all persons are the absolute owners of their own lives, and should be free to do whatever they wish with their persons or property, provided they allow others that same liberty”); also, a member of a political party supporting libertarianism. 4. (chiefly Ireland, UK) An antiauthoritarian believer in left- libertarianism, a political doctrine that stresses both individual freedom and social equality, and advocates shared ownership of natural resources. 5. (chiefly US) A believer in right-libertarianism, a political doctrine that emphasizes individual liberty and a lack of governmental intervention, oversight, and regulation, both in economic matters (that is, a belief in the free market) and in personal behaviour provided that no one's rights are threatened or violated. 6. Advocating liberty; also, having a relative tendency towards liberty. 7. (philosophy) Relating to the doctrine of free will as opposed to the doctrine of necessity. 8. (originally US, politics) Relating to, or advocating, libertarianism; also, relating to a political party supporting libertarianism. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/libertarian
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The ultimate notion of right is that which tends to the universal good; and when one's acting in a certain manner has this tendency, he has a right thus to act. --Francis Hutcheson https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Francis_Hutcheson_%28philosopher%29