Emmeline Pankhurst (1858–1928) was a political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement. Although widely criticised for her militant tactics, her work is recognised as a crucial element in achieving women's suffrage in Britain. She became involved with the Women's Franchise League, which advocated suffrage for women. When that organisation broke apart, she joined the left-leaning Independent Labour Party through her friendship with socialist Keir Hardie. After her husband died in 1898, Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union, an all-women suffrage advocacy organisation dedicated to "deeds, not words". The group quickly became infamous when its members smashed windows and assaulted police officers. Pankhurst, her daughters, and other WSPU activists were sentenced to repeated prison sentences, where they staged hunger strikes to secure better conditions. Eventually arson became a common tactic among WSPU members, and more moderate organisations spoke out against the Pankhurst family. With the advent of World War I, Pankhurst called an immediate halt to militant suffrage activism, in order to support the British government against the "German Peril". They urged women to aid industrial production, and encouraged young men to fight. In 1918 the Representation of the People Act granted votes to women over the age of 30. Pankhurst transformed the WSPU machinery into the Women's Party, which was dedicated to promoting women's equality in public life.

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_________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1534:

Over 200 Spanish settlers led by conquistador Sebastián de Belalcázar founded what is now Quito, Ecuador. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quito) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quito%29

1768:

The first number out of 100 of the first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica was published in Edinburgh, Scotland. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Encyclopaedia_Britannicahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica )

1917:

A ship in Halifax Harbour carrying trinitrotoluene (TNT) and picric acid caught fire after a collision with another ship and exploded, devastating Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion)

1922:

The Irish Free State, the first independent Irish state to be recognised by the British government, came into existence, one year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Free_State http://goog_1228526663800 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Free_State)( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Irish_Treaty)

1989:

The École Polytechnique massacre: Twenty-five year-old Marc Lépine killed fourteen people and injured fourteen others at the École Polytechnique in Montreal, Quebec. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_Polytechnique_massacre)

_______________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

hypotrochoid (n) A geometric curve traced by a fixed point on the radius line outside one circle which rotates inside the perimeter of another circle. ( http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/XXXXXXX http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hypotrochoid)

______________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The Science of Language has taught us that there is order and wisdom in all languages, and even the most degraded jargons contain the ruins of former greatness and beauty. The Science of Religion, I hope, will produce a similar change in our views of barbarous forms of faith and worship. --Max Müller (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_M%C3%BCllerhttp://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_M%C3%BCller )