From today's featured article
Alexander Cameron Rutherford (1857–1941) was the first premier of Alberta. Born in Ormond, Canada West, he became a lawyer in Ottawa before moving to the North-West Territories in 1895. He won a seat in the North-West Legislative Assembly, and in 1905 he was asked to form the new province's first government. As premier, with a majority in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, he created the apparatus of government and supported the controversial selection of Edmonton as capital. Faced with labour unrest in the coal mining industry, the government established a commission to examine the problem. A project to develop new railways led to the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway scandal; Rutherford eventually resigned but kept his legislative seat. He was defeated in the 1913 election by Herbert Crawford, a Conservative, but was made King's Counsel afterwards. After leaving politics, he continued his law practice and became chancellor of the University of Alberta until his death by a heart attack. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that Kohoutek (pictured) was the first comet to be proven a dirty snowball?
- ... that according to one sociologist, Franklin Flores's landslide victory demonstrated his party's ability to win the rural vote "regardless of the candidates nominated"?
- ... that Northwest High School required transgender staff members of the student newspaper to use deadnames in bylines?
- ... that Drummie Zeb was one of the last two original members of Aswad still playing with the reggae group by 2006?
- ... that following the introduction of the round goby to Lake Erie, the Lake Erie watersnake's population recovered enough to be removed from the U.S. threatened species list?
- ... that in the lead-up to the 1919 Copa del Rey Final between FC Barcelona and Arenas Club de Getxo, fans broke the fencing twice to watch the sold-out match?
- ... that former Lincoln University president Armstead Otey Grubb was robbed and murdered outside his home on campus in 1968?
- ... that concerts of the Spannungen festival of chamber music, founded by pianist Lars Vogt in 1998, are played in a power plant?
In the news
- At least 100 people are killed in renewed fighting between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
- In the Swedish general election, the Sweden Democrats–Moderates–Christian Democrats–Liberals bloc wins a majority of seats in the Riksdag.
- French-Swiss filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard (pictured) dies at the age of 91.
- In television, Ted Lasso wins best comedy and Succession wins best drama at the Primetime Emmy Awards.
On this day
September 21: International Day of Peace
- 1170 – Norman invasion of Ireland: English and Irish forces conquered Dublin, forcing Ascall mac Ragnaill, the last Norse–Gaelic king of Dublin, into exile.
- 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Great Fire of New York (depicted) broke out during the British occupation of New York City, destroying up to 1,000 buildings.
- 1934 – The Muroto typhoon, the strongest in Japanese history at the time, made landfall on the mainland, killing more than 3,000 and leaving around 200,000 homeless.
- 1937 – J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy children's novel The Hobbit, which later served as a prelude to The Lord of the Rings, was first published.
- 1968 – The Soviet Union's Zond 5 landed in the Indian Ocean, becoming the first spacecraft to safely return to Earth after travelling around the Moon.
- Andrew II of Hungary (d. 1235)
- H. G. Wells (b. 1866)
- Kareena Kapoor (b. 1980)
Today's featured picture
Pantala flavescens, also known as the globe skimmer, globe wanderer or wandering glider, is a wide-ranging dragonfly of the family Libellulidae. It is considered to be the most widespread dragonfly with a good population on every continent except Antarctica, although it is rare in Europe. Globe skimmers make an annual multigenerational journey of some 18,000 km (about 11,200 miles); to complete the migration, individual globe skimmers fly more than 6,000 km (3,730 miles)—one of the farthest known migrations of all insect species. Photograph credit: Basile Morin
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