Charles Holden (1875–1960) was an English architect best known for designing many London Underground stations during the 1920s and 1930s, for Bristol Central Library, the Underground Electric Railways Company of London's headquarters at 55 Broadway and for the University of London's Senate House. He also created many war cemeteries in Belgium and northern France for the Imperial War Graves Commission. Although not without its critics, his architecture is widely appreciated. He was awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects' Royal Gold Medal for architecture in 1936 and was appointed a Royal Designer for Industry in 1943. His station designs for London Underground became the corporation's design standard influencing designs by all architects working for the organisation in the 1930s. Many of his buildings have been granted listed building status, protecting them from unapproved alteration. Modestly believing that architecture was a collaborative effort, he twice declined the offer of a knighthood.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1431:

Hundred Years' War: Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in Rouen, France, after being convicted of heresy in a politically motivated trial. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc

1815:

The East Indiaman ship Arniston was wrecked during a storm at Waenhuiskrans, near Cape Agulhas, present-day South Africa, with the loss of 372 lives. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arniston_%28East_Indiaman%29

1854:

The Kansas–Nebraska Act became law, establishing the U.S. territories of Nebraska and Kansas, repealing the 1820 Missouri Compromise, and allowing settlers in those territories to determine if they would permit slavery within their boundaries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas%E2%80%93Nebraska_Act

1922:

The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., featuring a sculpture of the sixteenth U.S. President Abraham Lincoln by Daniel Chester French, opened. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Memorial

1967:

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu announced the establishment of Biafra, a secessionist state in southeastern Nigeria, an event that sparked the Nigerian Civil War one week later. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biafra

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

nictate (v): To wink or blink http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nictate

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

If I am not in the state of grace, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me. --Joan of Arc http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc