Franklin Knight Lane (1864–1921) was an American Democratic politician from California who served as United States Secretary of the Interior from 1913 to 1920. He also served as a commissioner of the Interstate Commerce Commission, and was the Democratic nominee for governor of California in 1902, losing a narrow race in what was then a heavily Republican state. Lane was born July 15, 1864, near Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, in what was then a British colony but is now part of Canada, and in 1871, his family moved to California. Elected City Attorney of San Francisco in 1898, a post he held for five years, Lane ran in 1902 for governor and in 1903 for mayor of San Francisco, losing both races. In 1903, he received the support of the Democratic minority in the California State Legislature during the legislature's vote to elect a United States Senator from California. It was often said of Lane that had he not been born in what is now Canada, he would have become president. In spite of that limitation, Lane was offered support for the Democratic nomination for Vice President, though he was constitutionally ineligible for that office as well.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1757:

Seven Years' War: Prussian forces led by Frederick the Great defeated the allied armies of France and the Holy Roman/Austrian Empire at the Battle of Rossbach. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rossbach

1838:

The collapse of the Federal Republic of Central America began with Nicaragua seceding from the union. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Republic_of_Central_America

1854:

Crimean War: Despite being severely outnumbered, and fighting in heavy foggy conditions, the allied armies of the United Kingdom and France defeated the Russians in present-day Inkerman, Ukraine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Inkerman

1913:

King Otto of Bavaria was deposed by his cousin, Prince Regent Ludwig, who assumed the title Ludwig III of Bavaria. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_III_of_Bavaria

1917:

St. Tikhon of Moscow was elected Patriarch of Moscow and of the Russian Orthodox Church. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikhon_of_Moscow

2007:

Chang'e 1 , the first unmanned spacecraft of the China National Space Administration's Lunar Exploration Program, entered into lunar orbit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27e_1

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

klatch (n): An informal social gathering, especially for the purpose of conversation http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/klatch

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I suppose the process of acceptance will pass through the usual four stages:

(i) this is worthless nonsense; (ii) this is an interesting, but perverse, point of view;

(iii) this is true, but quite unimportant; (iv) I always said so. --J. B. S. Haldane http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._B._S._Haldane