William Y. Slack (August 1, 1816 – March 21, 1862) was an American
lawyer, politician and soldier. A peacetime lawyer, Slack served in the
Missouri General Assembly from 1842 to 1843 and saw combat in the
Mexican–American War. After the outbreak of the American Civil War in
April 1861, Slack, who held pro-slavery views, supported the
Confederate cause. When the Missouri State Guard was formed the next
month to oppose the Union Army, he was appointed as a brigadier general,
commanding its 4th Division. After participating in the Battle of
Carthage in July, he fought in the Battle of Wilson's Creek on
August 10, where he suffered a bad hip wound. He transferred to the
Confederate Army in late 1861 as a colonel. On March 7, 1862, during
the Battle of Pea Ridge, he was wounded again. Infection set in, and he
died on March 21. He was posthumously promoted to brigadier general in
the Confederate Army on April 17; the Confederate Senate may not have
known that he was dead.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Y._Slack>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1913:
More than 360 were killed and 20,000 homes were destroyed in
the Great Dayton Flood in Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Dayton_Flood>
1968:
War of Attrition: The Battle of Karameh took place between the
Israel Defense Forces and allied troops of the Palestine Liberation
Organization and the Jordanian Armed Forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Karameh>
1980:
The American soap opera Dallas aired the episode "A House
Divided", which led to eight months of international speculation on "Who
shot J.R.?"
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_House_Divided_%28Dallas%29>
2019:
A major explosion at a chemical plant in Yancheng, China,
killed 78 people and injured 640 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Xiangshui_chemical_plant_explosion>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
drift of the forest:
(Britain, law, historical) The act of driving or herding cattle in a
forest to a particular place in order to determine who they belong to
and whether the owners have a right to common or pasture them in the
forest, and whether any fines should be paid by those without such a
right.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/drift_of_the_forest>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The last, best fruit that comes to perfection, even in the
kindliest soul, is tenderness toward the hard; forbearance toward the
unforbearing; warmth of heart toward the cold; and philanthropy toward
the misanthropic.
--Jean Paul
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_Paul>