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>
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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)>
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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>
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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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