of Great Britain and Ireland, was shot and killed in the lobby of the
House of Commons in London. His assailant, John Bellingham, a Liverpool
merchant, was tried and convicted, and on 18 May was hanged at Newgate
Prison. Despite initial fears that the assassination might be linked to
a general uprising, Bellingham had in fact acted alone, as a protest
against the government's failure to compensate him for his imprisonment
in Russia for a trading debt. After Perceval's death, parliament made
generous provision to his widow and children, but his ministry was soon
forgotten and his policies reversed. He had led the Tory government
during a critical phase of the Napoleonic Wars, and his determination to
prosecute the war using the harshest of measures had caused widespread
poverty and unrest. He is generally better known for the manner of his
death than for any of his achievements. Later historians have
characterised Bellingham's hasty trial and execution as contrary to the
principles of justice.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Spencer_Perceval>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
868:
A copy of the Diamond Sutra was printed in China, making it the
world's oldest dated printed book.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Sutra>
1745:
War of the Austrian Succession: French forces defeated the
Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian "Pragmatic Army" at the Battle of Fontenoy in the
Austrian Netherlands in present-day Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fontenoy>
1813:
William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth departed
westward from Sydney on an expedition to become the first Europeans
confirmed to cross the Blue Mountains.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Mountains_(New_South_Wales)>
1946:
The United Malays National Organisation, today Malaysia's
largest political party, was founded, originally to oppose the
constitutional framework of the Malayan Union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Malays_National_Organisation>
1996:
A severe blizzard on Mount Everest caused the deaths of eight
climbers, helping make that year the deadliest in the mountain's history
at the time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Mount_Everest_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dudess:
1. A female dude.
2. (dated) A cowgirl.
3. A woman, generally a younger woman, especially one who is perceived to
be cool or hip.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dudess>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I maintain that Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach
it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. That is my
point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely and unconditionally.
Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path
whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed
to lead or to coerce people along any particular path. If you first
understand that, then you will see how impossible it is to organize a
belief. A belief is purely an individual matter, and you cannot and must
not organize it. If you do, it becomes dead, crystallized; it becomes a
creed, a sect, a religion, to be imposed on others.
--Jiddu Krishnamurti
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jiddu_Krishnamurti>
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