James Abram Garfield (1831–1881) was the 20th president of the United
States, serving from March 4 to September 19, 1881. Garfield was born
into poverty in a log cabin in Northeast Ohio. He was a Union major
general during the American Civil War. Elected to Congress in 1862 to
represent Ohio's 19th district, he served nine terms, gaining a
reputation as a skilled orator. He also wrote a notable proof of the
Pythagorean theorem, published in 1876. Selected as a compromise
candidate at the 1880 Republican National Convention, Garfield won the
general election. As president he oversaw a resurgence of presidential
authority against senatorial courtesy in executive appointments, a purge
of corruption in the Post Office, and the appointment of a Supreme Court
justice. Garfield advocated an educated electorate and civil rights for
African Americans. He was shot on July 2, 1881, and died from infections
caused by his doctors. (This article is part of a featured topic: 1880
United States presidential election.).
Read more:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/1880_United_States_presidential_election>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1866:
Lucy Hobbs Taylor became the first woman to receive a doctorate
from a dental college.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Hobbs_Taylor>
1929:
In the first battle of the Warlord Rebellion in northeastern
Shandong against the Nationalist government of China, a 24,000-strong
rebel force led by Zhang Zongchang was defeated at Zhifu by 7,000 NRA
troops.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warlord_Rebellion_in_northeastern_Shandong>
1952:
A number of student protesters demanding the establishment of
Bengali as an official language were killed by police in Dhaka, East
Pakistan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengali_language_movement>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
matrilingual:
(rare) Pertaining to one's mother tongue.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/matrilingual>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whatever the field under discussion, those who engage in debate
must not only believe in each other's good faith, but also in their
capacity to arrive at the truth.
--W. H. Auden
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._H._Auden>