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Thomas Green, killed during the riot

The Epsom riot took place on 17 June 1919 when between 300 and 800 soldiers of the Canadian Army rioted and attacked the police station in Epsom in Surrey, England. With the First World War over, discipline at Canadian camps was relaxed. Delays in repatriation caused discontent among Canadian troops. The riot began when two Canadian servicemen were arrested following a disturbance at a local public house. Their comrades marched on the town police station to demand their release. In the ensuing fighting, Private Allan McMaster, a former blacksmith, picked up a metal bar and struck Station Sergeant Thomas Green (pictured), a British police officer, on the head. Green died the following day. Several men, including McMaster, appeared in court, were found guilty of rioting but acquitted of manslaughter, and served several months in prison. Ten years after returning to Canada, McMaster confessed to the killing. As he had already been found not guilty of manslaughter, he was not returned to the UK. (Full article...)

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On this day

August 24: Feast day of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle (Western Christianity); Independence Day in Ukraine (1991)

Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.

49 BC – Caesar's Civil War: Forces loyal to Julius Caesar led by Gaius Scribonius Curio were defeated by Pompeian Republicans under Publius Attius Varus and King Juba I of Numidia.
1643 – A Dutch expedition arrived at the mouth of the Valdivia River, in present-day Chile, to establish a new colony in the ruins of the abandoned Spanish settlement of Valdivia.
1662 – The 1662 Book of Common Prayer was legally enforced as the liturgy of the Church of England, precipitating the Great Ejection of Dissenter ministers from their benefices.
1963 – Buddhist crisis: The U.S. State Department ordered Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (pictured) to encourage South Vietnamese Army officers to oust Ngo Dinh Diem if he did not willingly remove Ngo Dinh Nhu from his unofficial position of power.
2006 – The International Astronomical Union passed a resolution redefining the term planet and classifying Pluto as a dwarf planet.

Zhang Ye (d. 948)
Magnus Barefoot (d. 1103)
Lavinia Fontana (bapt. 1552)
Anna Lee Fisher (b. 1949)

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Today's featured picture

The lemon (Citrus × limon) is a species of small evergreen tree in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily northeastern India (Assam), northern Myanmar, and China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world, primarily for its juice, which has both culinary and cleaning uses. The pulp and rind are also used in cooking and baking. The distinctive sour taste of lemon juice, derived from citric acid, makes it a key ingredient in drinks and foods. This photograph shows a whole and halved lemon against a black background.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

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