Vladimir Lenin (born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, 1870–1924) was a Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of the Soviet Union, which under his administration became a one-party state governed by the Communist Party. Ideologically a Marxist, he developed political theories known as Leninism. After the 1917 February Revolution ousted the Tsar, he played a leading role in the 7 November 1917 insurrection commonly known as the October Revolution, in which the Bolsheviks overthrew the new regime. Lenin's administration redistributed land among the peasantry and nationalised banks and large-scale industry. It withdrew from the First World War by signing a treaty with the Central Powers, and promoted world revolution through the Communist International. Widely considered one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, Lenin is viewed by supporters as a champion of socialism and the working class, while critics on both the left and right emphasize his role as founder and leader of an authoritarian regime responsible for political repression and mass killings.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
680:
The Sixth Ecumenical Council convened in Constantinople to take a position on the theological positions of monoenergism and monothelitism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Council_of_Constantinople
1775:
Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of the British Colony of Virginia, signed a proclamation promising freedom for slaves of Patriots if they joined the British Armed Forces. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunmore%27s_Proclamation
1861:
American Civil War: Future U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant engaged in his first combat leadership role in the Battle of Belmont in Mississippi County, Missouri. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Belmont
1917:
World War I: British forces captured Gaza when the Ottoman garrison abandoned the area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Battle_of_Gaza
1987:
Singapore's first Mass Rapid Transit line was opened (train pictured), starting with train services between Yio Chu Kang and Toa Payoh stations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Rapid_Transit_(Singapore)
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
Vukovian: (historical) Chiefly in the plural form Vukovians: a member of a group of Croatian linguists active at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century who supported the ideas of Serbian philologist and linguist Vuk Karadžić (1787–1864) concerning the standardization of the Croatian variety of the Serbo-Croatian language. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Vukovian
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
All the final answers were given in the beginning. They stand shining, above and beyond us, but they are always there to be seen. They may be too bright for us, they may be too clear for us. Well then, we must clarify our own eyes. Our task is to grow out until we reach them. --R. A. Lafferty https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/R._A._Lafferty
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