Charles Richardson (c. 10 March 1769 – 10 November 1850) was an English Royal Navy officer. He joined HMS Vestal in 1787, where he made an aborted journey to China before serving on the East Indies Station. He transferred to HMS Phoenix and fought in the Battle of Tellicherry. With HMS Circe he combated the Nore mutiny and fought in the Battle of Camperdown, capturing Jan Willem de Winter. He fought in the Battle of Callantsoog and the Vlieter incident, sailed to Egypt, and fought in the battles of Abukir, Mandora, and Alexandria. Commanding HMS Alligator, he was sent to the Leeward Islands Station during the Napoleonic Wars, where he captured three Dutch settlements. He transferred to HMS Topaze in 1821 and sailed to China, where his crew killed two locals in self- defence. The resulting diplomatic incident strained Richardson's health and he was invalided home, where he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath and promoted to vice-admiral. He died of influenza in Painsthorpe.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Richardson_%28Royal_Navy_officer%29

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1959:

An anti-Chinese uprising began as thousands of Tibetans surrounded the Potala Palace in Lhasa to prevent the Dalai Lama from leaving or being removed by the Chinese army. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1959_Tibetan_uprising

1968:

Vietnam War/Laotian Civil War: North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao forces overwhelmed the American, Laotian, Thai, and Hmong defenders of Lima Site 85. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lima_Site_85

1977:

Astronomers using NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory discovered a faint ring system around Uranus. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Uranus

2008:

The New York Times revealed that Eliot Spitzer, Governor of New York, had patronized a prostitution ring. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliot_Spitzer_prostitution_scandal

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

spring forward, fall back: (US, mnemonic) Used to recall how clocks, watches, and other chronometers are adjusted for daylight saving time: local time goes forward in the spring (usually by one hour), and back in fall (autumn). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spring_forward%2C_fall_back

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The artist should have as little desire to rule as to serve. He can only create, do nothing but create, and so help the state only by … exalting politicians and economists into artists.   --Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Wilhelm_Friedrich_Schlegel