The early life, business career and political rise of Neville
Chamberlain culminated on 28 May 1937, when he was summoned to
Buckingham Palace to "kiss hands" and become Prime Minister of the
United Kingdom. Chamberlain was born in 1869; his father was the
politician Joseph Chamberlain. After a period in a firm of chartered
accountants, Neville Chamberlain spent six years in the Bahamas managing
a sisal plantation. Returning to England in 1897, he became a successful
businessman, and Lord Mayor, in his home city of Birmingham. He was
elected to the House of Commons aged 49 in 1918, the oldest man at first
election to Parliament to become prime minister. After four years on the
backbenches, he saw rapid promotion, becoming Chancellor of the
Exchequer after less than a year as a minister. He spent five years as
Minister of Health, securing the passage of many reforming acts. After
two years in opposition, he became part of Ramsey MacDonald's National
Government, and spent another five years as Chancellor. Chamberlain had
long been regarded as Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin's political heir,
and when Baldwin announced his retirement, Chamberlain was seen as the
only possible successor.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_of_Neville_Chamberlain>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1774:
The publication of The Sorrows of Young Werther raised the 24
-year-old Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to international fame.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sorrows_of_Young_Werther>
1829:
The Metropolitan Police of Greater London, originally
headquartered in Great Scotland Yard, Westminster, was founded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Police_Service>
1923:
The British Mandate for Palestine came into effect, officially
creating the protectorates of Palestine as a Jewish homeland under
British administration and Transjordan as a separate emirate under
Abdullah I.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Mandate_for_Palestine_(legal_instrument)>
1957:
An explosion at the Soviet nuclear reprocessing plant Mayak
released 74 to 1850 PBq of radioactive material.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyshtym_disaster>
1963:
The University of East Anglia was founded in Norwich, England,
after talk of establishing such a university in the city began as early
as the 19th century.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_East_Anglia>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
abnegate:
1. To deny oneself (something), to renounce or give up (a right, power,
claim, privilege or convenience).
2. To deny, to reject (something, for example a truth or a commonly-held
belief).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abnegate>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Time ripens all things. No man is born wise.
--Miguel de Cervantes
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Cervantes>