Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) was a British politician and writer who twice served as prime minister. He played a central role in the creation of the modern Conservative Party, defining its policies and its broad outreach. Disraeli entered the House of Commons in 1837. In 1846, after clashing with the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, Disraeli became a major figure in the party, though many in it did not favour him. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons in the 1850s and 1860s, and became prime minister briefly in 1868 before losing that year's election. In his second term as prime minister (1874–80), he arranged Britain's purchase of a major interest in the Suez Canal Company, and worked at the Congress of Berlin to maintain peace in the Balkans and to make terms that favoured Britain and weakened Russia. He had throughout his career written novels, and he published his last completed one, Endymion, shortly before he died. Disraeli is remembered for his influential voice in world affairs, his political battles with the Liberal leader William Ewart Gladstone, and his one-nation conservatism or "Tory democracy".

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1620:

The Mayflower Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, establishing the Plymouth Colony. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Colony

1879:

A Doll's House, a controversial play by Henrik Ibsen that challenged 19th-century marriage norms, premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Doll%27s_House

1910:

In the second worst mining accident in England, an underground explosion at the Hulton Bank Colliery No. 3 Pit killed 344 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretoria_Pit_disaster

1965:

The United Nations adopted the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which 87 member nations have since signed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Convention_on_the_Elimination_of_All_Forms_of_Racial_Discrimination

1988:

A total of 270 people were killed when a bomb on board Pan Am Flight 103 exploded while the plane was in flight over Lockerbie, Scotland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_103

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

apologetic apostrophe: (sociolinguistics, orthography) An apostrophe added to a Scots word in order to give the appearance that it is a contraction of an English word. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apologetic_apostrophe

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I am waking from a dream, I am choking on a scream, You were trying to show me something. But the dark is wide and long, The gates are closed, the crowd's all gone, You're still shimmering and leading me on… Firefly that's what you are Burning for me in my darkest hour "Light breaks where no sun shines" So shine for me tonight — firefly.   --Greta Gaines https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Greta_Gaines