Sjafruddin Prawiranegara (1911–1989) was an Indonesian statesman and
economist. He became active in politics after an education in law, and
joined the Indonesian nationalist movement during the Japanese
occupation of 1942–1945. He was appointed finance minister in the
republican government during the Indonesian National Revolution of
1945–1949. In December 1948, the Indonesian revolutionary leaders
were captured and Sjafruddin served as head of government for seven
months. After Indonesia's independence he first served as deputy prime
minister, then again as finance minister until 1951. A pragmatic
policymaker, he espoused religious socialism based on a liberal
interpretation of Islam; he was a staunch opponent of communism.
Sjafruddin's opposition to the government's system of Guided Democracy
resulted in his leading three years of guerrilla warfare, which ended
with his surrender in 1961. Imprisoned until 1966, he became a vocal
critic of the Indonesian government until his death in 1989.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sjafruddin_Prawiranegara>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1836:
English astronomer Francis Baily observed Baily's beads
(example pictured), a phenomenon during a solar eclipse in which the
rugged topography of the lunar limb allows sunlight to shine through.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Baily>
1864:
American Civil War: A small Confederate force, which included
cadets from the Virginia Military Institute, forced the Union Army out
of the Shenandoah Valley.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_New_Market>
2010:
Three days before her seventeenth birthday, Jessica Watson
arrived in Sydney after sailing non-stop and unassisted around the
world.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Watson>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
primigravida:
(obstetrics, veterinary medicine) A woman or female animal who is
pregnant for the first time, or who has been pregnant once.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/primigravida>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing
as gray as her other surroundings.
--L. Frank Baum
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/L._Frank_Baum>
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