Thomas R. Marshall (March 14, 1854 – June 1, 1925) was a Democratic
politician who served as the 28th Vice President of the United States
from 1913 to 1921. As the 27th Governor of Indiana, he proposed a new,
controversial state constitution and pressed for other Progressive Era
reforms. His popularity as governor, and Indiana's status as a critical
swing state, helped him secure the vice presidential nomination on a
ticket with Woodrow Wilson in 1912 and win the general election. During
World War I, after a small number of anti-war senators kept the Senate
deadlocked by refusing to end debate, Marshall led the body to adopt its
first rule allowing filibusters to be ended by a two-thirds majority
vote. After a stroke incapacitated Wilson in October 1919, many cabinet
officials and Congressional leaders urged Marshall to become acting
president, but he refused to forcibly assume the presidency for fear of
setting a precedent. Well known for his wit and sense of humor, he once
quipped during a Senate debate, "What this country needs is a really
good five-cent cigar".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_R._Marshall>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1489:
Queen of Cyprus Catherine Cornaro was forced to abdicate and
sell the administration of the island to the Republic of Venice.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Cornaro>
1885:
The Mikado, Gilbert and Sullivan's most frequently performed
Savoy opera, debuted at the Savoy Theatre in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mikado>
1910:
Oil prospectors in Kern County, California, drilled into a
pressurized oil deposit, resulting in the largest accidental oil spill
in history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakeview_Gusher>
1978:
Israeli–Lebanese conflict: The Israel Defense Forces began
Operation Litani, invading and occupying southern Lebanon, and pushing
PLO troops north up to the Litani River.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_South_Lebanon_conflict>
1988:
China defeated Vietnam in a naval battle as the former
attempted to establish oceanographic observation posts on the Spratly
Islands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_South_Reef_Skirmish>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
Pi Day:
March 14th, an annual celebration of the mathematical constant π (pi).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Pi_Day>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The world is in greater peril from those who tolerate or encourage
evil than from those who actually commit it.
--Albert Einstein
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein>
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