Margaret Bondfield (1873–1953) was a British Labour politician, trades unionist and women's rights activist. She became the first female cabinet minister, and the first woman to be a privy counsellor, when she was appointed Minister of Labour in the Labour government of 1929–31. Bondfield was born in humble circumstances and received limited formal education. Beginning as a shopworker in Brighton and London, she was an active trades unionist and held union office from 1898. Bondfield helped to found the Women's Labour League in 1906, and was chair of the Adult Suffrage Society. She was a socialist rather than a suffragette, which divided her from some factions in the women's movement. She was first elected to parliament in 1923, and was a junior minister in the Labour government of 1924. Her term in the cabinet was overshadowed by the economic crises that beset the 1929–31 Labour ministry, and her actions in office antagonised many in the Labour Party. She left parliament in 1931, but continued in quiet public service until shortly before her death.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1871:

French President Adolphe Thiers ordered the evacuation of Paris after an uprising broke out as the result of France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, leading to the establishment of the Paris Commune government. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune

1892:

Lord Stanley of Preston pledged to donate an award for Canada's top-ranked amateur ice hockey club, now known as the Stanley Cup (pictured), the oldest professional sports trophy in North America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Cup

1925:

The Tri-State Tornado spawned in Missouri, traveled over 219 miles (352 km) across Illinois and Indiana, and killed 695 along the way, making it the tornado with the longest continuous track ever recorded and the deadliest in U.S. history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-State_Tornado

1985:

The first episode of the Australian soap opera Neighbours was broadcast on the Seven Network, eventually becoming the longest running drama in Australian television history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighbours

2005:

As per a court order, the feeding tube of Terri Schiavo, an American woman who suffered brain damage, was removed at the request of her husband, fueling a worldwide debate on euthanasia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terri_Schiavo_case

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

tribology: (physics, engineering) The science and technology of friction, lubrication, and wear. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tribology

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I do not think discursively. It is not so much that I arrive at truth as that I take my start from it.   --Nikolai Berdyaev https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nikolai_Berdyaev