John Adair (1757–1840) was an American pioneer, soldier and statesman. He was the eighth Governor of Kentucky and represented the state in both the U.S. House and Senate. Adair participated in the Revolutionary War and the Northwest Indian War, and was elected to eight terms in the Kentucky House of Representatives. He ascended to the U.S. Senate to fill the seat vacated by John Breckinridge's resignation, but failed to win the subsequent election due to his implication in the Burr conspiracy. He was eventually acquitted of any wrongdoing, but the negative publicity kept him out of politics for more than a decade. Adair's participation in the War of 1812, and his defense of Kentucky's soldiers against charges of cowardice at the Battle of New Orleans, restored his reputation. He returned to the state House in 1817 and was elected governor three years later on a platform of financial relief for Kentuckians hit hard by the Panic of 1819. He created the Bank of the Commonwealth, but other financial reforms were deemed unconstitutional by the Kentucky Court of Appeals, touching off the Old Court – New Court controversy. He later served in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

475:

Basiliscus became Byzantine Emperor after Zeno was forced to flee Constantinople. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basiliscus

1816:

Inventor Humphry Davy first tested his Davy lamp, a safety lamp containing a candle for use in coal mines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_lamp

1909:

Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition, planted the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km) from the South Pole, the furthest anyone had ever reached at that time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farthest_South

1972:

The Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, ending a 33-game winning streak, the longest of any team in American professional sports. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Lakers

2004:

Twenty-eight illegal Albanian emigrants died when their inflatable boat stalled near the Karaburun Peninsula while on the way to Brindisi, Italy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karaburun_tragedy

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

carpe diem: Seize the day, make the most of today, enjoy the present. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/carpe_diem

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

 Self-knowledge is no guarantee of happiness, but it is on the side of happiness and can supply the courage to fight for it.   --Simone de Beauvoir https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Simone_de_Beauvoir