The 4th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Union Army in the American Civil War. Formed mostly from a militia unit in Norristown in southeastern Pennsylvania, the regiment enlisted at the start of the war in April 1861 for a three-month period of service under the command of Colonel John F. Hartranft. The regiment served as part of the garrison of Washington, D.C., until late June, when it was sent into Northern Virginia to join the army of Brigadier General Irvin McDowell. The regiment suffered its only combat casualties in a picket action on June 30 and was sent back to be mustered out on the eve of the First Battle of Bull Run owing to disagreement among the men over remaining after their term of service expired. Its men were denounced as cowards for being members of the only regiment to refuse to fight at the July 21 battle. Hartranft and a company commander stayed with the army and both later received the Medal of Honor for their actions at Bull Run. Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4th_Pennsylvania_Infantry_Regiment> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1784: The Emerald Buddha, considered to be the sacred palladium of Thailand, was installed in its current location at Wat Phra Kaew on the grounds of the Grand Palace in Bangkok. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Buddha> 1942: Second World War: British and Italian naval forces fought the Second Battle of Sirte in the Gulf of Sidra north of Libya. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Sirte> 1992: USAir Flight 405 crashed in Flushing Bay shortly after takeoff from New York City's LaGuardia Airport, killing 27 people, and leading to studies into the effects of ice on aircraft. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAir_Flight_405> 2014: A massive landslide in Oso, Washington, killed 43 people after engulfing a rural neighborhood, the largest death toll for a standalone landslide in U.S. history. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Oso_mudslide> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: winterbourne: (Britain) A stream that only flows in winter or after wet weather, particularly in an area rich in limestone. <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/winterbourne> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:   How much of what we do is free will, and how much is programmed in our genes? Why is each people so narrow that it believes that it, and it alone, has all the answers? In religion, is there but one road to salvation? Or are there many, all equally good, all going in the same general direction? I have read my books by many lights, hoarding their beauty, their wit or wisdom against the dark days when I would have no book, nor a place to read. I have known hunger of the belly kind many times over, but I have known a worse hunger: the need to know and to learn.   --Louis L'Amour <https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_L%27Amour>