Robert Roberts (1905–1974) was an English writer, teacher and social
historian, noted for the evocative accounts of his working-class youth
he gave in The Classic Slum (1971) and A Ragged Schooling (1976). Born
and raised in a deprived district of Salford, Roberts left school at 14
for a seven-year apprenticeship as a brass finisher. Sacked once it
ended, he spent three years unemployed, and attended evening classes. In
1929, he was hired as a teacher at a commercial college, but was
dismissed in 1940 when he was exempted from conscription as a
conscientious objector. He then spent years working as a farmhand, as
well as teaching and writing. In 1957, he was hired to teach at
Strangeways Prison in Manchester; his experiences there inspired his
first book, Imprisoned Tongues (1968). In 1971, Roberts published The
Classic Slum, a book about his boyhood, intermixed with social and oral
history. Widely praised, it has become a key source for understanding
the working-class experience in early-20th-century England.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Roberts_%28author%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1814:
War of the Sixth Coalition: Napoleon's army forced Mikhail
Semyonovich Vorontsov's Russian troops to withdraw from the Chemin des
Dames, but French casualties exceeded Russian losses.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Craonne>
1985:
The charity single "We Are the World" by the supergroup United
Support of Artists for Africa was released, and went on to sell more
than 20 million copies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_the_World>
2009:
The Kepler space telescope (depicted), designed to discover
Earth-like planets orbiting other stars, was launched.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler_space_telescope>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
nervous:
1. Easily agitated or alarmed; edgy, on edge.
2. Apprehensive, anxious, hesitant, worried.
3. Relating to or affecting the nerves.
4. (archaic) Having nerves; nervose.
5. (obsolete) Showing nervous strength; sinewy, vigorous.
6. (obsolete) Of a piece of writing: forceful, powerful.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nervous>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
There was a lot of talk about humanitarian corridors. Every day
they talked about the opportunity for people to get out of the cities
where Russia moved in, the Russian military. I am grateful to every
Ukrainian and everyone who stays around to defend our cities, our
freedom. But I also know that there are people who really need to flee,
who can't stay, and we heard the promise that there will be humanitarian
corridors. There are none! Instead of humanitarian corridors, they can
only ensure bloody ones.
--Volodymyr Zelenskyy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Zelenskyy>
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