Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, the last president from the Whig Party. Born into poverty in the Finger Lakes area of New York state, he became a prominent attorney in the Buffalo area and was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1828, and to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1832. As Ways and Means Committee chairman, he helped pass the Tariff of 1842. In 1848, he was elected vice president and succeeded to the presidency in July 1850 upon the death of President Zachary Taylor. Fillmore considered slavery an evil, but beyond the powers of the federal government. He pushed to pass the Compromise of 1850, leading to a brief truce in the battle over slavery. He also enforced the Fugitive Slave Act, a controversial part of the Compromise. The Whigs nominated Winfield Scott in 1852 instead of him. In 1856, he was nominated for president by the Know Nothing Party, but he finished third, winning only Maryland.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1782:

The Bank of North America opened in Philadelphia as the United States's first de facto central bank. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_North_America

1940:

Winter War: Outnumbered Finnish troops decisively defeated Soviet forces at the Battle of Raate Road. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Raate_Road

2010:

In Nag Hammadi, Egypt, Muslim gunmen opened fire on a crowd of Coptic Christians leaving church after attending Christmas mass, killing eight of them, as well as one Muslim bystander. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nag_Hammadi_massacre

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

to say nothing of: (idiomatic) An apophasis used to mention another important, usually related, point: not taking into account, not to mention, without considering. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/to_say_nothing_of

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I accept this idea of democracy. I am all for trying it out. It must be a good thing if everybody praises it like that. If our government has been willing to go to war and sacrifice billions of dollars and millions of men for the idea I think that I ought to give the thing a trial. The only thing that keeps me from pitching head long into this thing is the presence of numerous Jim Crow laws on the statute books of the nation. I am crazy about the idea of Democracy. I want to see how it feels.   --Zora Neale Hurston https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zora_Neale_Hurston