William Matthews (1770–1854) was the first person born in British America to be ordained a Catholic priest. Originally from the colonial Province of Maryland, he became influential in the establishment of Catholicism in Washington, D.C. through his parochial service and founding of several educational institutions. He was the second pastor of St. Patrick's Church, the President of Georgetown College (later known as Georgetown University), and the head of the Washington Catholic Seminary, which became Gonzaga College High School, in addition to being co-founder and president of the Washington Library Company, the first public library in the District of Columbia. He founded several orphanages, schools, and parishes, and was co-director of the District of Columbia Public Schools. In 1832 he officiated at the wedding of a French diplomat and Mary Anne Lewis, a ward of President Andrew Jackson, in the first Catholic ceremony to be held in the White House.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Matthews_%28priest%29

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1802:

German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers discovered 2 Pallas, the second asteroid ever identified. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_Pallas

1930:

Turkey changed the name of its largest city Constantinople to Istanbul. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Istanbul

1979:

British Prime Minister James Callaghan was defeated by one vote in a motion of no confidence by the House of Commons after his government struggled to cope with widespread strikes during the "Winter of Discontent". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_vote_of_no_confidence_in_the_Callaghan_ministry

1999:

Serbian police and special forces killed at least 89 Kosovo Albanians in the village of Izbica, in the Drenica region of central Kosovo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izbica_massacre

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

atompunk: (science fiction) A subgenre of speculative fiction, based on the society and technology of the Atomic Age (c. 1945–1965). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/atompunk

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Why should it not be the whole function of a word to denote many things?   --J. L. Austin https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._L._Austin