John L. Helm (1802–1867) was the 18th and 24th governor of Kentucky,
although his aggregate service in that office was less than fourteen
months. He also represented Hardin County in both houses of the
Kentucky General Assembly and was chosen Speaker of the Kentucky House
of Representatives four times. In 1838 his sole bid for national office
ended in defeat when his opponent, Willis Green, was elected to the
U.S. House of Representatives. After his service as governor Helm
became president of the struggling Louisville and Nashville Railroad.
Although he openly opposed secession during the American Civil War,
federal military forces labeled Helm a Confederate sympathizer. In
September 1862, he was arrested for this alleged sympathy, but Governor
James F. Robinson recognized him as he was being transported to a
prison in Louisville and had him released. After the war Helm
identified with the Democratic Party, and in 1865 Hardin County voters
returned him to the state senate. In 1867 he was the state's Democratic
candidate for governor. Despite his failing health, Helm made a
vigorous canvass of the state and won the general election. He was too
weak to travel to Frankfort for his inauguration, so state officials
administered the oath of office at his home on September 3, 1867. He
died five days later.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Helm>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1127:
Invading Jin soldiers besieged and sacked Kaifeng and abducted Emperor
Qinzong and others, ending the Northern Song Dynasty of China.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Dynasty%23Northern_Song%2C_960%E2%80%931127>
1768:
Philip Astley staged the first modern circus in London.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/circus>
1909:
Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition, planted the British
flag 97 miles (156 km) from the South Pole, the furthest anyone had
ever reached at that time.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Shackleton>
1917:
World War I: Troops of the British Empire defeated Ottoman forces at
the Battle of Rafa on the Sinai–Palestine border in present-day Rafah.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rafa>
1972:
The Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association lost to
the Milwaukee Bucks, ending a 33-game winning streak, the longest of
any team in American professional sports.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Lakers>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring (adj):
(idiomatic) [[unsuitable
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/neither_fish%2C_flesh%2C_nor_good_red_herring>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity.
I want this adventure that is the context of my life to go on without
end.
--Simone de Beauvoir
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Simone_de_Beauvoir>
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