Cherry Valentine was the stage name of George Ward (1993–2022), an English drag queen and mental health nurse who competed in the second series of the television show RuPaul's Drag Race UK. Raised in an English Traveller community, Ward was the first member of his family to attend university, where he was introduced to Manchester's drag scene. He began performing as Cherry Valentine in 2016, while working in a children's psychiatric intensive-care unit. As part of the LGBT community, Ward hid his Traveller heritage because he feared he might receive "hate or backlash". Ward has been credited as the first contestant on the Drag Race franchise to acknowledge his Romani heritage. In 2022, he addressed his background in the BBC documentary film Cherry Valentine: Gypsy Queen and Proud, and in an episode of the documentary series God Shave the Queens. Following Ward's death in 2022, a memorial concert and fundraiser was held at London's Clapham Grand (pictured).

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1941:

After a secret meeting in Newfoundland, British prime minister Winston Churchill and U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt (both pictured) issued the Atlantic Charter, establishing a vision for a post–World War II world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Charter

1975:

The Rocky Horror Picture Show premiered in London, the first in its record-breaking run in cinemas, which continues in limited release. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rocky_Horror_Picture_Show

2010:

The inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games opened in Singapore for athletes aged between 14 and 18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_Olympic_Games

2013:

Security forces raided two camps of supporters of the ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi in Cairo, leading to the deaths of at least 595 civilians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_2013_Rabaa_massacre

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

minnow: 1. Any small fish. 2. The common minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus), a small freshwater fish of the carp family Cyprinidae which has a green back with black elongated blotches, commonly swimming in large shoals. 3. Chiefly with a qualifying word: any of a number of other (small) fish from the family Cyprinidae; also (chiefly US), other small (usually freshwater) fish from other families. 4. (Australia, New Zealand) Synonym of galaxiid (“any member of the family Galaxiidae of mostly small freshwater fish of the Southern Hemisphere”); specifically, the common galaxias, inanga, or jollytail (Galaxias maculatus). 5. (Britain, regional) Synonym of stickleback (family Gasterosteidae). 6. (figuratively) A person or thing of relatively little consequence, importance, or value. 7. (fishing) An artificial bait in the form of a small fish. 8. (rare) Very small; tiny. 9. To fish for minnows (noun sense 1 and subsenses). 10. To fish, especially for trout, using minnows as bait. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/minnow

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Human civilization is the outgrowth of conscious altruism; and the directive Moral Purpose in the world nothing but our dim perception, ever growing through spiritual friction, that we are all bound more and more toward the understanding of ourselves and each other, and all that this carries with it.   --John Galsworthy https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Galsworthy