Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln never met, but the American poet greatly admired Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, and was deeply affected by his assassination, writing several poems as elegies and giving a series of lectures on Lincoln. Shortly after the assassination, Whitman hastily wrote the first of his Lincoln poems, "Hush'd Be the Camps To-Day". Two more appeared in his collection Sequel to Drum-Taps later in 1865: "O Captain! My Captain!" and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd". The poems—particularly "My Captain!"—were popular upon publication and, in the following years, Whitman styled himself as an interpreter of Lincoln. In 1871, his fourth poem on Lincoln, "This Dust Was Once the Man", was published. "My Captain!" is still one of Whitman's most popular works, despite slipping in popularity and critical assessment since the early 1900s. "Lilacs" is often listed as one of Whitman's finest works. (This article is part of a featured topic: Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln.).

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Walt_Whitman_and_Abraham_Lincoln

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1865:

"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" was published, becoming the first great success of American author Mark Twain (pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Celebrated_Jumping_Frog_of_Calaveras_County

1956:

At the Polish embassy in Moscow, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev said "We will bury you" while addressing Western envoys, prompting them to leave the room. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_will_bury_you

1991:

Croatian War of Independence: The Yugoslav People's Army captured the Croatian city of Vukovar, ending an 87-day siege. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vukovar

2014:

Two Palestinian men attacked the praying congregants of a synagogue in Jerusalem with axes, knives, and a gun, resulting in eight deaths, including the attackers themselves. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Jerusalem_synagogue_attack

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

Minecrafter: (video games) A person who plays the game Minecraft. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Minecrafter

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

After I wrote Handmaid’s Tale, people came up to me and asked why weren’t there any protests. And I said, “You don’t understand totalitarianism.” A real totalitarianism doesn’t fool around with protests in the streets.   --Margaret Atwood https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Margaret_Atwood