Edward Oxford (1822–1900) was an English man who made an assassination attempt on Queen Victoria in 1840. After losing a series of jobs in pubs due to erratic and violent behaviour, he bought two pistols and fired twice at the queen and her husband, Prince Albert; neither shot hit anyone. Charged with high treason, he was found by a jury to be not guilty by reason of insanity, and was detained at Bethlem Royal Hospital and Broadmoor Hospital. Offered exile in 1867, he settled in Melbourne, Australia, under a new name. He worked as a decorator, married and became a respected figure at his local church. He began writing stories for The Argus on the seedier aspects of Melbourne, and later published a book, Lights and Shadows of Melbourne Life. Oxford's trial and the 1843 trial of Daniel M'Naghten, who killed civil servant Edward Drummond, prompted the judiciary to frame the M'Naghten rules on instructions to be given to a jury for a defence of insanity.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1924:

Ramsay MacDonald took office as the first prime minister of the United Kingdom from the Labour Party. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramsay_MacDonald

1943:

World War II: The Battle of Buna–Gona on New Guinea ended with an Allied victory after two months of difficult fighting against well-prepared Japanese defence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Buna%E2%80%93Gona

1968:

Apollo 5, the first flight of NASA's Lunar Module, lifted off from Cape Kennedy Air Force Station. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_5

1979:

Uganda–Tanzania War: After surrounding Mutukula the previous day, Tanzanian forces attacked the town in the Battle of Mutukula and caused Ugandan forces to flee. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mutukula

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

poetic justice: 1. (narratology) Synonym of poetical justice (“the idea that in a literary work such as a poem, virtue should be rewarded and vice punished”) 2. (by extension, generally) The fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/poetic_justice

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

We take cunning for a sinister or crooked wisdom. And certainly there is a great difference, between a cunning man, and a wise man; not only in point of honesty, but in point of ability. There be, that can pack the cards, and yet cannot play well; so there are some that are good in canvasses and factions, that are otherwise weak men.   --Essayes or Counsels, Civill and Morall https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Essays_%28Francis_Bacon%29