In the 1950 United States Senate election in California, Republican Richard Nixon (pictured) defeated Democrat Helen Gahagan Douglas in a campaign characterized by accusations and name-calling. Democratic incumbent Sheridan Downey withdrew during the primary election campaign, after which publisher Manchester Boddy joined the race; both attacked Douglas as a leftist. Nixon and Douglas won the primaries, and at the time of the Red Scare, tried to paint each other as sympathetic to communism; Nixon had more success doing so. Democrats were slow to rally to Douglas, and some even endorsed Nixon, who defeated Douglas by almost 20 percentage points in the November 7 election. Though Nixon was later criticized for his tactics in the campaign, he defended his actions and stated that Douglas was too far to the left for California's voters. The campaign gave rise to two lasting political nicknames, "the Pink Lady" for Douglas and "Tricky Dick" for Nixon. Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950_United_States_Senate_election_in_California> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1807: Gunboat War: The Royal Navy concluded their bombardment of Copenhagen and captured the Dano-Norwegian navy, leading to the term "Copenhagenization". <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Copenhagen_%281807%29> 1905: Under the mediation of U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt, the Russo-Japanese War officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard near Portsmouth, New Hampshire. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Portsmouth> 1921: Popular American comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle attended a party during which a woman was fatally injured; although he was eventually acquitted of manslaughter, the trial's scandal derailed his career. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe_Arbuckle> 1943: World War II: American and Australian airborne forces landed at Nadzab as part of the New Guinea campaign against Japan. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_at_Nadzab> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: ascesis: 1. (Rigorous) self-discipline, particularly as a religious observance; asceticism. 2. (Christianity, chiefly Eastern Orthodoxy, specifically) The praxis or "exercise" of asceticism and self-denial of impulses or passions for the sake of piety, theosis, and connection with God. <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ascesis> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:   When you see your neighbors, their needs, their joys, their sorrows, when you see them next door or halfway around the world, you will know what to do. It is concern that precedes and inspires agendas, and survives when agendas fail, and it causes us to try again, always trying our best, never certain about our own judgment. It is knowing that God's purpose exceeds whatever we can put in an agenda. For Christians, it is trusting in the guidance of the Holy Spirit.   --John Danforth <https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Danforth>