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Matthew Quay (1833–1904) represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1887 until 1899 and from 1901 until his death. As chair of the Republican National Committee and thus party campaign manager, he helped elect Benjamin Harrison president in 1888; he was also instrumental in the 1900 election of Theodore Roosevelt as vice president. Quay received the Medal of Honor for heroism at the 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg. Beginning in 1867, he became part of the political machine run by Senator Simon Cameron. Quay served as the secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia county recorder, and Pennsylvania state treasurer. The last office, to which he was elected in 1885, made him the state's Republican political boss. At his height, Quay influenced appointments to thousands of state and federal positions in Pennsylvania, the occupants of which had to help finance the machine. After his death, the machine was taken over by the state's other senator, Boies Penrose, who continued to run it until his own death in 1921. (Full article...)

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Grip, Dickens's raven

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... that the human rights abuses committed by Indonesian soldiers at ExxonMobil's Arun gas field spawned a U.S. lawsuit against the company that has been stalled for 20 years?
... that the Spanish priest Baltasar Calvo was denounced as a "Valencian Robespierre" for leading an 1808 massacre of French residents in Valencia?
... that after the Battle of Winwick in 1648 some Scottish prisoners were sold as slaves?
... that Nazi concentration camp commandant Otto Hantke was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1974 at the age of 67 for his acts during the Holocaust?
... that King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's "cli-fi" thrash metal album addresses a mix of current ecological threats and attempts to find another planet to live on?
... that Pat Cronin, a 19-year-old man, died after he was struck just once on his head during a pub fight?
... that Logical Machine Corporation product range of computers included the ADAM, the Mike, and the Tina?

In the news

Michelle Yeoh

At the Academy Awards, Everything Everywhere All at Once wins seven awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Michelle Yeoh (pictured).
Iran and Saudi Arabia agree to re-establish diplomatic relations, seven years after they were severed.
Silicon Valley Bank collapses in the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history.
In the Estonian parliamentary election, the Reform Party, led by Kaja Kallas, wins the most seats in the Riigikogu.

On this day

March 14: New Year's Day (Sikhism); White Day in parts of East Asia; Pi Day

Catherine Cornaro

1309 – On Eid al-Fitr, the citizens of Granada stormed palaces in the city, deposing Sultan Muhammad III and placing his half-brother Nasr on the throne.
1489 – Catherine Cornaro (pictured), Queen of Cyprus, was forced to abdicate and sell the administration of the island to the Republic of Venice.
1885 – The Mikado, Gilbert and Sullivan's most frequently performed Savoy opera, debuted at the Savoy Theatre in London.
1969 – Edward M. Burke, the longest-serving alderman in the history of the Chicago City Council, was sworn into office.
1984 – Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Féin, was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt by Ulster Freedom Fighters in central Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Matilda of Ringelheim (d. 968)
Diane Arbus (b. 1923)
Tony Benn (d. 2014)

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Today's featured picture

Golden Delicious is a cultivar of apple. The cultivar arose from a chance seedling, possibly a hybrid of Grimes Golden and Golden Reinette. The original tree was found on the family farm of J. M. Mullins in Clay County, West Virginia, and was locally known as Mullins' Yellow Seedling. Mullins sold the tree and propagation rights to Stark Brothers Nurseries and Orchards for $5000, which first marketed it as a companion of their Red Delicious in 1914 (although the two cultivars are not closely related). Golden Delicious is one of the most popular apple cultivars in the United States, popular for eating as well as in salads, apple sauces, and apple pies. This photograph of one whole and one halved Golden Delicious apple was focus-stacked from six images.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

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