Charles Carroll (1661–1720) was a wealthy lawyer and planter in
colonial Maryland. Carroll, a Catholic, is best known because his
efforts to hold office in the Protestant-dominated colony resulted in
the disfranchisement of Maryland Catholics. The second son of Irish
Catholic parents, Carroll was educated in France as a lawyer before
returning to England, where he pursued the first steps in a legal
career. Before that career developed, he secured a position as Attorney
General of the young colony of Maryland. Its founder George Calvert and
his descendants intended it as a refuge for Catholics. Carroll supported
Charles Calvert, the colony's Catholic proprietor, in an unsuccessful
effort to prevent the Protestant majority from gaining political
control. Following the overthrow of the Calvert proprietorship and the
subsequent exclusion of Catholics from colonial government, Carroll
turned his attention to planting, law, business, and various offices in
the proprietor's remnant organization. He was the wealthiest man in the
colony by the time of his death.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Carroll_the_Settler>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1341:
The Byzantine army proclaimed chief minister John VI
Kantakouzenos emperor, triggering a civil war between his supporters and
those of John V Palaiologos, the heir to the throne.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_civil_war_of_1341%E2%80%931347>
1813:
War of 1812: A force consisting of about 1,630 French Canadian
regulars and militia and Mohawk warriors under Charles de Salaberry
repulsed an American force of about 4,000 attempting to invade Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Chateauguay>
1940:
The North American P-51 Mustang, one of the most effective
fighter aircraft for the Allies during World War II, made its first
flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_P-51_Mustang>
1955:
Ngo Dinh Diem proclaimed himself president of the newly created
Republic of Vietnam after defeating former Emperor Bao Dai in a
fraudulent referendum supervised by his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Vietnam_referendum,_1955>
2000:
Laurent Gbagbo became the first President of Côte d'Ivoire
since Robert Guéï was thrown out of power during the 1999 Ivorian coup
d'état.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurent_Gbagbo>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
antihero:
(literature) A protagonist who proceeds in an unheroic manner, such as
by criminal means, via cowardly actions, or for mercenary goals.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antihero>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Have I been blind, have I been lost, inside myself and my own mind;
hypnotized, mesmerized, by what my eyes have seen?
--Natalie Merchant
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Merchant>