Thomas F. Bayard (1828–1898) was a lawyer, politician, and diplomat from Wilmington, Delaware. He served three terms as a US Senator from Delaware and made three unsuccessful bids for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. In 1885, President Grover Cleveland appointed him Secretary of State. Bayard worked with Cleveland to promote American trade in the Pacific while avoiding the acquisition of colonies at a time when many Americans clamored for them. He worked to resolve disputes over fishing and seal-hunting rights in the waters around the Canada–United States border. After four years in private life, he returned to the diplomatic arena as Ambassador to the United Kingdom, where he continued to strive for Anglo-American friendship. This brought him into conflict with his successor at the State Department, Richard Olney, when Olney and Cleveland were demanding more aggressive diplomatic overtures in the Venezuelan crisis of 1895.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_F._Bayard

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1920:

A bomb in a horse wagon exploded (aftermath pictured) in front of the J. P. Morgan building in New York City, killing 38 people and injuring several hundred others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_bombing

1961:

Typhoon Nancy, with possibly the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, made initial landfall in Muroto, Kōchi, Japan, having decreased in intensity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Nancy_%281961%29

1982:

A Lebanese militia under the direct command of Elie Hobeika carried out a massacre in the Palestinian refugee camp of Sabra and Shatila, killing at least 460 civilians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabra_and_Shatila_massacre

1990:

Construction of the Northern Xinjiang railway was completed between Ürümqi South and Alashankou stations, linking the railway lines of China and Kazakhstan, and adding a sizable portion to the Eurasian Land Bridge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Land_Bridge

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

cummerbund: (fashion) A broad sash, especially one that is pleated lengthwise and worn as an article of formal dress, as around a man's waist together with a tuxedo or dinner jacket. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cummerbund

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The shortest and surest way of arriving at real knowledge is to unlearn the lessons we have been taught, to mount the first principles, and take nobody's word about them.   --Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_St_John,_1st_Viscount_Bolingbroke