To the People of Texas & All Americans in the World is an open letter written on February 24, 1836 by William B. Travis, commander of the Texian forces at the Battle of the Alamo, to settlers in Mexican Texas. On February 23, the Alamo Mission in San Antonio, Texas, had been besieged by Mexican forces led by General Antonio López de Santa Anna. Fearing that his small group of men could not withstand an assault, Travis wrote this letter seeking reinforcements and supplies from supporters. The letter was initially entrusted to courier Albert Martin, who carried it to Gonzales and then handed the letter to Launcelot Smithers. Partially in response to the letter, men from throughout Texas and the United States began to gather in Gonzales. Between 32 and 90 of them reached the Alamo before it fell; the remainder formed the nucleus of the army which eventually defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. After the Texas Revolution, the original letter was delivered to Travis's family in Alabama, and in 1893, one of his descendants sold it to the State of Texas. For many decades it was displayed at the Texas State Library; the original letter is now protected and a copy is on display under a portrait of Travis. Read the rest of this article: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_the_People_of_Texas_%26_All_Americans_in_the_World> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1739: The identity of English highwayman Dick Turpin, who had been living under an alias in York, was uncovered by his former schoolteacher, who recognised his handwriting, leading to Turpin's arrest. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Turpin> 1909: The Silver Dart was flown off the ice of Baddeck Bay, a sub-basin of Bras d'Or Lake on Cape Breton Island, making it the first controlled powered flight in Canada and the British Empire. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AEA_Silver_Dart> 1941: Plutonium was first chemically identified by chemist Glenn T. Seaborg and his team at the University of California, Berkeley. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium> 1945: World War II: In an Allied bombing run on Pforzheim, Germany, approximately 31% of the population were killed and 83% of the buildings were destroyed. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Pforzheim_in_World_War_II> 2007: A Virgin Trains Pendolino express train from London Euston to Glasgow Central derailed near Grayrigg, Cumbria, UK, killing 109. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grayrigg_derailment> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: accidentally on purpose (adv): While appearing to be an accident, done deliberately <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/accidentally_on_purpose> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: How shall Integrity face Oppression? What shall Honesty do in the face of Deception, Decency in the face of Insult, Self-Defense before Blows? How shall Desert and Accomplishment meet Despising, Detraction, and Lies? What shall Virtue do to meet Brute Force? There are so many answers and so contradictory; and such differences for those on the one hand who meet questions similar to this once a year or once a decade, and those who face them hourly and daily. --W. E. B. Du Bois <http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Bois>