The Lord Chancellor is one of the most senior and important functionaries in the government of the United Kingdom. He is a Great Officer of State, and is appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister and is, by convention, always a peer, although there is no legal impediment to the appointment of a commoner. The Lord Chancellor's responsibilities are wide-ranging; they include presiding over the House of Lords, participating in the Cabinet, acting as the custodian of the Great Seal and heading the judiciary. Concerns over these wide-ranging powers have led to a proposal to abolish the office from Tony Blair's ministry. A bill to achieve the desired effect has been proposed, but has not been passed into law. Since 2003, Lord Falconer of Thoroton has served as Lord Chancellor.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Chancellor

Today's selected anniversaries:

1688 Glorious Revolution: Protestant Prince William of Orange landed at Brixham in Devon, on his way to depose his father-in-law King James II, the last Catholic monarch in England. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_Revolution)

1838 The United States of Central America began to disintegrate when Honduras separated from the federation. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_of_Central_America)

1872 Suffragette Susan B. Anthony voted in the U.S. presidential election for the first time. She was later fined $100 for this. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_B._Anthony)

1917 St. Tikhon of Moscow was elected the Patriarch of Moscow and of the Russian Orthodox Church. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikhon_of_Moscow)

1935 Parker Brothers released the board game Monopoly. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_%28game%29)

Wikiquote of the day:

"ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US." ~ CATS of Zero Wing (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zero_Wing)