Jefferson Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889) was the president of the Confederate States of America (CSA) from 1861 to 1865. He previously represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and House of Representatives as a Democrat, and was the U.S. secretary of war from 1853 to 1857. A graduate of West Point, Davis served in the U.S. Army, fighting in the Mexican–American War. He was a cotton planter and owned as many as 113 slaves. During the Civil War, Davis served as commander in chief. When the CSA was defeated in 1865, he was captured, accused of involvement in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and of treason, and imprisoned at Fort Monroe. He was released without trial after two years. Immediately after the war, Davis was often blamed for the CSA's defeat but, after his release from prison, the Lost Cause movement deemed him a hero, and he was celebrated in the South. In the 21st century, however, he has been viewed more harshly, and many memorials to him have been removed. (Full article...).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Davis> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1865: Slavery in the United States was officially abolished with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution> 1942: The Holocaust: Members of the German Ordnungspolizei massacred 31 people in Stary Ciepielów and Rekówka within occupied Poland for helping Jews. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stary_Ciepiel%C3%B3w_and_Rek%C3%B3wka_massacre> 1975: Four members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army took two people hostage in a house on Balcombe Street in London, surrendering six days later. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balcombe_Street_siege> 1990: An Italian Air Force military jet, abandoned by its pilot after an on-board fire, crashed into a high school near Bologna, killing 12 students and injuring 88 other people. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Italian_Air_Force_MB-326_crash> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: cherry on top: (idiomatic) Synonym of icing on the cake (“a thing which intensifies the appreciation of something already good, or (ironic) the regretting of something already bad”). <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cherry_on_top> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: I am obsessed with architecture. It is true, I am restless, trying to find myself as an architect, and how best to contribute in this world filled with contradiction, disparity, and inequality, even passion and opportunity. --Frank Gehry <https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Frank_Gehry> _______________________________________________ Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list. To unsubscribe write to: [email protected] Questions or comments? Contact [email protected]
