Ben Affleck (born 1972) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He starred as a child in the PBS educational series The Voyage of the Mimi beginning in 1984. He later appeared in several Kevin Smith films, including Chasing Amy (1997) and Dogma (1999). Affleck gained wider recognition when he and childhood friend Matt Damon won the Golden Globe and Academy Award for the screenplay of Good Will Hunting (1997). He established himself as a leading man in studio films including Armageddon (1998), Forces of Nature (1999), Pearl Harbor (2001) and Changing Lanes (2002). After a career downturn, his directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone (2007), was well received. For the political thriller Argo (2012), which he directed, co-produced and starred in, he won two major industry awards for best director, and the film won three for best picture. Affleck is a co-founder of the Eastern Congo Initiative and the production company Pearl Street Films. He has three children with actress Jennifer Garner (married 2005–2017).

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1839:

Giuseppe Verdi's first opera Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio, was first performed at La Scala in Milan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberto_(opera)

1871:

The United States' National Rifle Association was first chartered in the state of New York by William Conant Church and George Wood Wingate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Rifle_Association

1894:

H. H. Holmes, one of the first modern serial killers, was arrested in Boston after having killed at least nine people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes

1905:

Influenced by the result of the Russo-Japanese War, the Empire of Japan and the Korean Empire signed the Eulsa Treaty, effectively depriving Korea of its diplomatic sovereignty. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan%E2%80%93Korea_Treaty_of_1905

1997:

Sixty-two people were killed by terrorists outside the Deir el- Bahri in Luxor, one of Egypt's top tourist attractions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxor_massacre

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

baker's dozen: 1. (idiomatic) Thirteen; a group of thirteen. 2. (Cockney rhyming slang) A cousin. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/baker%27s_dozen

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Note the difference between a right and a privilege. A right, in the abstract, is a fact; it is not a thing to be given, established, or conferred; it is. Of the exercise of a right power may deprive me; of the right itself, never. Privilege, in the abstract, does not exist; there is no such thing. Rights recognized, privilege is destroyed. But, in the practical, the moment you admit a supreme authority, you have denied rights. Practically the supremacy has all the rights, and no matter what the human race possesses, it does so merely at the caprice of that authority.   --Voltairine de Cleyre https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltairine_de_Cleyre