Harry Relph (21 July 1867 – 10 February 1928), professionally known as Little Tich, was a 4-foot-6-inch (137 cm) English music hall comedian and dancer during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was best known for his acrobatic and comedic Big-Boot Dance, for which he wore boots with soles 28 inches (71 cm) long. He was also a popular performer in theatrical Christmas pantomimes. During a tour of the United States between 1887 and 1889 he impressed audiences with his ability to stand on the tips of his shoes and to lean at extraordinary angles. He had a major success with Babes in the Wood in Manchester during the 1889–90 season, and in the 1890s he developed the Serpentine Dance. The impresario Augustus Harris hired him to appear alongside Dan Leno and Marie Lloyd at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in its spectacular Christmas pantomimes Humpty Dumpty in 1891, Little Bo Peep in 1892 and Robinson Crusoe in 1893.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Tich

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1831:

Following the Belgian Revolution, Leopold I was inaugurated as the first king of the Belgians at the Place Royale in Brussels. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_I_of_Belgium

1918:

World War I: An Imperial German U-boat opened fire on a small convoy of barges and defending aircraft near the American town of Orleans, Massachusetts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Orleans

1960:

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was elected the prime minister of Ceylon, becoming the world's first democratically elected female head of government. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirimavo_Bandaranaike

1990:

Taiwanese military police ordered the deportation of 76 illegal immigrants from mainland China in sealed boat holds, causing 25 deaths due to suffocation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min_Ping_Yu_No._5540_incident

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

aventurine: 1. A kind of brownish glass containing gold-coloured spangles. 2. (mineralogy, by extension) A variety of translucent quartz, spangled throughout with scales of yellow mica. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aventurine

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

We believe that the civilised world is a multicultural, multi- religious world. That is the type of message we want to get across. … I think there are many who are Muslims and non-Muslims, who are not warmongers but peace makers and want this world to be a better place. We believed the unison of the voices of so many people standing together against international terrorism is something to be valued and something to be built upon.   --Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam) https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cat_Stevens