Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901) was the 23rd President of the United States, serving one term from 1889 to 1893. Harrison was born in North Bend, Ohio, and at age 21 moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he became a prominent state politician. During the American Civil War Harrison served as a Brigadier General in the XXI Corps of the Army of the Cumberland. After the war he unsuccessfully ran for the governorship of Indiana, but was later elected to the U.S. Senate from that state. Harrison, a Republican, was elected to the presidency in 1888, defeating the Democratic incumbent, Grover Cleveland. He is the only president elected from the state of Indiana. His presidential administration is best known for its economic legislation, including the McKinley Tariff and the Sherman Antitrust Act, and for annual federal spending that reached one billion dollars for the first time. Democrats attacked the "Billion Dollar Congress", and used the issue, along with the growing unpopularity of the high tariff, to defeat the Republicans, both in the 1890 mid-term elections and in Harrison's bid for re-election in 1892.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Harrison

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1411:

Forces of Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles fought an army commanded by Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar at the Battle of Harlaw near Inverurie in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Harlaw

1567:

Mary Queen of Scots was forced to abdicate the Scottish throne and was replaced by her one-year-old son James. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_I_of_Scotland

1967:

During a speech in Montreal, French President Charles de Gaulle declared "Long live free Quebec!", a statement that was interpreted as support for Quebec independence from Canada. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vive_le_Qu%C3%A9bec_libre

1977:

The Libyan–Egyptian War, a short border war between Libya and Egypt over political conflicts, ended after the combatants agreed to a ceasefire organized by Algeria. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan%E2%80%93Egyptian_War

2001:

Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the last Tsar of Bulgaria when he was a child, was sworn in as Prime Minister of Bulgaria, becoming one of the first monarchs in history to regain political power through a democratic election to a different office. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simeon_Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

lahar (n): A volcanic mudflow http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lahar

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Many have puzzled themselves about the origin of evil. I am content to observe that there is evil, and that there is a way to escape from it, and with this I begin and end. --John Newton http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Newton