James A. Ryder (1800–1860) was an American Catholic priest who led several Jesuit institutions. He studied at Georgetown College before entering the Society of Jesus in 1815. Ryder was then sent to Italy, where he studied and taught theology. He continued as a professor upon his return to the United States in 1829, and became the president of Georgetown on May 1, 1840. He established the university's observatory and liquidated its debt, while gaining a reputation as a talented preacher. For two years of his term, he was also the provincial superior of the Jesuits' Maryland Province. In 1845, Ryder became the second president of the College of the Holy Cross. He then returned to Georgetown as president in 1848, where he oversaw construction of a new Holy Trinity Church and accepted a group of physicians to form a School of Medicine. Ryder then assisted in founding Saint Joseph's College in Philadelphia, and became its president in 1856. From 1857 until his death, he preached and did pastoral work.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Ryder

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1625:

Dutch–Portuguese War: Portuguese and Spanish forces recaptured the Brazilian city of Bahia, which had previously been captured by the Dutch Republic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recapture_of_Bahia

1786:

The Marriage of Figaro (audio featured), an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marriage_of_Figaro

1950:

Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwendolyn_Brooks

1974:

Argentine president Juan Perón expelled Montoneros from a demonstration in the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, forcing the group to become a clandestine organization. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsion_of_Montoneros_from_Plaza_de_Mayo

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

synaesthesia: 1. (neurology, psychology) A neurological or psychological phenomenon whereby a particular sensory stimulus triggers a second kind of sensation. 2. (by extension) The association of one sensory perception with, or description of it in terms of, a different perception that is not experienced at the same time. 3. (art, literature) A literary or artistic device whereby one kind of sensation is described in the terms of another. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/synaesthesia

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

It was miraculous. It was almost no trick at all, he saw, to turn vice into virtue and slander into truth, impotence into abstinence, arrogance into humility, plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism, and sadism into justice. Anybody could do it; it required no brains at all. It merely required no character.   --Catch-22 https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Catch-22