Monroe Edwards (1808–1847) was an American slave trader who was convicted of forgery after a well-publicized trial in 1842. Originally from Kentucky, Edwards moved to New Orleans, then settled in Texas. He smuggled slaves into Brazil in 1832 and into Texas in 1836. After a swindle, he was forced to flee the Republic of Texas to the United States. He tried to scam money out of various abolitionists in the United States and the United Kingdom, partly with forged letters of introduction. He then forged letters from cotton brokers in New Orleans, which he used to secure bank drafts for large sums. His fabrications caught up with him and he was arrested and tried. Convicted partly because his distinctive good looks made him memorable and easily recognizable, and partly from repetitive spelling errors in his forgeries, Edwards was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and died while incarcerated. He is mentioned in Herman Melville's 1853 short story "Bartleby, the Scrivener".

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

678:

Pope Agatho, later venerated as a saint in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, began his pontificate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Agatho

1899:

A. E. J. Collins scored 628 runs not out, the highest-ever recorded score in cricket until 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._E._J._Collins

1954:

The Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant was connected to the electrical grid, becoming the world's first nuclear power plant to produce electricity industrially. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obninsk_Nuclear_Power_Plant

1994:

Members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult released sarin gas in Matsumoto, Japan, killing 8 and injuring over 500 others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsumoto_sarin_attack

2008:

Robert Mugabe was re-elected as President of Zimbabwe with an overwhelming majority after his opponent Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew a week earlier, citing violence against his party's supporters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwean_general_election,_2008

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

latter-day:

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/latter-day

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

There is no greater fallacy than the belief that aims and purposes are one thing, while methods and tactics are another, This conception is a potent menace to social regeneration. All human experience teaches that methods and means cannot be separated from the ultimate aim. The means employed become, through individual habit and social practice, part and parcel of the final purpose; they influence it, modify it, and presently the aims and means become identical.   --Emma Goldman https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emma_Goldman