The Canadian federal election of 1957 was held on June 10, 1957, to
select the 265 members of the House of Commons of Canada. The Liberal
Party had won five consecutive elections since 1935. Under Prime
Ministers William Lyon Mackenzie King and Louis St. Laurent, the
government gradually built a welfare state. During the Liberals' fifth
term in office, the opposition parties depicted them as arrogant and
unresponsive to Canadians' needs. Controversial events, such as the
1956 "Pipeline Debate" over the construction of the Trans-Canada
Pipeline, had hurt the government. The Progressive Conservative Party
ran a campaign centered on their new leader, John Diefenbaker
(pictured), who attracted large crowds to rallies and made a strong
impression on television. The Liberals ran a lackluster campaign, and
St. Laurent made few television appearances. Abandoning their usual
strategy of trying to make inroads in Liberal-dominated Quebec, the
Conservatives focused on other provinces. They were successful; though
they gained few seats in Quebec, they won 112 seats overall to the
Liberals' 105, with the remaining seats won by other parties. In one of
the great upsets in Canadian political history, the Conservatives'
plurality in the House of Commons made Diefenbaker Prime Minister and
ended 22 years of Liberal rule in Canada.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_federal_election%2C_1957>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1331:
Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of the House of Nemanjić was crowned King of
Serbia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Uro%C5%A1_IV_Du%C5%A1an_of_Serbia>
1504:
David, a marble sculpture by Michelangelo portraying the biblical King
David in the nude, was unveiled in Florence, Italy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_%28Michelangelo%29>
1514:
Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars: The combined forces of the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland defeated the larger army of the
Grand Duchy of Moscow in Orsha, present-day Belarus.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Orsha>
1966:
The American science fiction show Star Trek premiered on the NBC
television network, launching a media franchise that has since created
a cult phenomenon and has influenced the design of many current
technologies.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek%3A_The_Original_Series>
1974:
Watergate scandal: U.S. President Gerald Ford gave recently resigned
U.S. President Richard Nixon a full and unconditional, but
controversial, pardon for any crimes he committed while in office.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford%23Pardon_of_Nixon>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
scot-free (adv):
1. (colloquial) Without consequences or penalties.
2. (archaic) Free of scot, free of tax
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scot-free>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
What voice revisits me this night? What face
To my heart’s room returns?
From the perpetual silence where the
grace
Of human sainthood burns
Hastes he once more to harmonise and heal?
I
know not. Only I feel
His influence undiminished
And his life’s work, in me and many,
unfinished.
--Siegfried Sassoon
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Siegfried_Sassoon>