Vidkun Quisling (1887–1945) was a Norwegian politician. On 9 April 1940, with the German invasion of Norway in progress, he seized power in a Nazi-backed coup d'etat. From 1942 to 1945 he served as Minister- President, working with the occupying forces. His collaborationist government, known as the Quisling regime, was dominated by ministers from Nasjonal Samling, the party he had founded in 1933. Among other things, it participated – willingly or unwillingly – in Germany's Final Solution. Quisling was put on trial during the post-war legal purge in Norway and found guilty of charges including embezzlement, murder and high treason. He was executed by firing squad at Akershus Fortress, Oslo, on 24 October 1945. During World War II, quisling became a synonym for traitor.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1462:

Forces led by Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia attacked an Ottoman camp at night in an attempt to assassinate Mehmed II. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Attack

1631:

Mumtaz Mahal, wife of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, died in childbirth; Jahan spent the next seventeen years constructing her mausoleum, the Taj Mahal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_and_architecture_of_the_Taj_Mahal

1861:

American Civil War: The Battle of Vienna, Virginia, took place, which involved one of the earliest military movements of troops by train in the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna,_Virginia

1963:

Around 2,000 people rioted in South Vietnam, despite the signing of the Joint Communique to resolve the ongoing Buddhist crisis one day earlier. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Communique

1991:

The Parliament of South Africa repealed the Population Registration Act, which required that each inhabitant of South Africa be classified and registered by race as part of the system of apartheid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_Registration_Act

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

postilion: A rider mounted on the near, leading horse pulling a carriage who guides the team. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/postilion

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

My work is a game, a very serious game. --M. C. Escher https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/M._C._Escher