Ezra Meeker (1830–1928) was an American pioneer who traveled the Oregon Trail by ox-drawn wagon in 1852, migrating from Iowa to the Oregon Territory with his wife and newborn son. Although they endured hardships in the journey of nearly six months, the entire Meeker party survived. In 1862, he settled at the present site of Puyallup, Washington, where he grew hops for use in brewing beer. His business made him wealthy, and he served as Puyallup's first mayor, but an infestation of hop aphids in 1891 destroyed his crops and took much of his fortune. He made four trips to the Klondike during the gold rush there, bringing groceries in an unsuccessful attempt to recoup his losses. After the turn of the 20th century, Meeker, convinced that the Oregon Trail was being forgotten, determined to bring it publicity. In 1906–1908, although in his late 70s, he retraced his steps along the Oregon Trail by wagon, seeking to build monuments in communities along the way; he reached New York and Washington, D.C., where he met President Theodore Roosevelt. He wrote several books, and traveled the Trail again several times in the final two decades of his life, including by airplane in 1924.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1529:

War of the League of Cognac: The French army under Francis de Bourbon was destroyed in Lombardy, present-day Italy, by the Spanish army. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Landriano

1826:

Greek War of Independence: A combined Egyptian and Ottoman army began their invasion of the Mani Peninsula, but they were initially held off by the Maniots at the fortifications of Vergas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman%E2%80%93Egyptian_invasion_of_Mani

1848:

In the Wallachian Revolution, Ion Heliade Rădulescu and Christian Tell proclaimed a new republican government. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallachian_Revolution_of_1848

1963:

Italian cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini was elected as Pope Paul VI (pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Paul_VI

2004:

SpaceShipOne completed the first privately funded human spaceflight. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceShipOne

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

angst: 1. A feeling of acute but vague anxiety or apprehension often accompanied by depression, especially philosophical anxiety. 2. More commonly, painful sadness or emotional turmoil, as teen angst. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/angst

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Cause, Principle, and One eternal From whom being, life, and movement are suspended, And which extends itself in length, breadth, and depth, To whatever is in Heaven, on Earth, and Hell; With sense, with reason, with mind, I discern, That there is no act, measure, nor calculation, which can comprehend That force, that vastness and that number, Which exceeds whatever is inferior, middle, and highest; Blind error, avaricious time, adverse fortune, Deaf envy, vile madness, jealous iniquity, Crude heart, perverse spirit, insane audacity, Will not be sufficient to obscure the air for me, Will not place the veil before my eyes, Will never bring it about that I shall not Contemplate my beautiful Sun.   --Giordano Bruno https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno