Simonie Michael (1933–2008) was a Canadian politician from the eastern Northwest Territories (later Nunavut) who was the first Inuk elected to a legislature in Canada. Before becoming involved in politics, Michael worked as a carpenter and business owner, and was one of very few translators between Inuktitut and English. He became a prominent member of the Inuit co-operative housing movement and a community activist in Iqaluit, and was appointed to a series of governing bodies, including the precursor to the Iqaluit City Council. He became the first elected Inuk member of the Northwest Territories Legislative Council in 1966, where he worked on infrastructure and public health initiatives. Michael is credited with bringing public attention to the dehumanizing effects of the disc number system, in which Inuit were assigned alphanumerical identifiers in place of surnames. Michael helped prompt the government to authorise Project Surname, which replaced the disc numbers with names.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1279:

The Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order suffered a great loss when 71 knights died in the Battle of Aizkraukle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Aizkraukle

1824:

The First Anglo-Burmese War, the longest and most expensive war in British Indian history, began. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Anglo-Burmese_War

1966:

BOAC Flight 911 disintegrated and crashed near Mount Fuji shortly after departure from Tokyo International Airport, killing all 113 passengers and 11 crew members on board. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOAC_Flight_911

1975:

Computer hobbyists in Silicon Valley held the first meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club (founder pictured), whose members went on to have great influence on the development of the personal computer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homebrew_Computer_Club

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

anhelation: 1. (uncountable, pulmonology, archaic) Breathing difficulty, shortness of breath. 2. (figuratively, obsolete) 3. (uncountable) Mental or spiritual agitation. 4. (uncountable) Followed by after or for: eager desire; (countable) an instance of this. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anhelation

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Without general elections, without unrestricted freedom of press and assembly, without a free struggle of opinion, life dies out in every public institution, becomes a mere semblance of life, in which only the bureaucracy remains as the active element. Public life gradually falls asleep, a few dozen party leaders of inexhaustible energy and boundless experience direct and rule.   --Rosa Luxemburg https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rosa_Luxemburg