The Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey is an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the state government of New Jersey in the United States. The person elected to this position is the second highest-ranking official in the state government. Before 2010, New Jersey was one of a few U.S. states that did not have a lieutenant governor. Two men were appointed to the office during brief periods in New Jersey's colonial era (1664–1776), but for most the state's history, the senate president would become "acting governor" during vacancies in the governor's office. After the resignations of Governors Christine Todd Whitman in 2001 and Jim McGreevey in 2004, the state had several acting governors in the span of a few years. Popular sentiment and political pressure from the state's residents and news media outlets sought a better rule for gubernatorial succession. In a referendum, the state's voters authorized a 2006 amendment of the State Constitution to create the position. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, voters elected Republican Kim Guadagno (pictured) to be the first to serve in the post in its modern form.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieutenant_Governor_of_New_Jersey

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

763:

The Abbasid Caliphate crushed the Alid Revolt when one of the rebellion leaders was mortally wounded in battle near Basra in what is now Iraq. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alid_Revolt_(762%E2%80%93763)

1525:

The Anabaptist Movement was born when founders Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, and George Blaurock re-baptized each other and other followers in Zürich, Switzerland, believing that the Christian religious practice of infant baptism is invalid because a child cannot commit to a religious faith. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabaptist

1912:

Raymond Poincaré (pictured), who would pursue hardline anti- German policies, began his first term as Prime Minister of France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Poincar%C3%A9

1968:

Vietnam War: The Vietnam People's Army attacked Khe Sanh Combat Base, a U.S. Marines outpost in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, starting the Battle of Khe Sanh. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khe_Sanh

1997:

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 395–28 to reprimand Newt Gingrich for ethics violations, making him the first Speaker of the House to be so disciplined. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newt_Gingrich

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

palinspastic: (geology, of a map) Showing the previous location of geological features, correcting for any intervening crustal movements. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/palinspastic

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

It is bad policy to fear the resentment of an enemy.   --Ethan Allen https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ethan_Allen