Are you writing the story of your life, or are you letting other people and circumstances write it for you? You might not consider yourself a follower, but here are a few signs you aren’t in control:   You don’t like your job – Maybe you picked something because it was easier or safer than your ideal career. Worse, maybe you’re just doing what your family pressured you to do. You’re living paycheck to paycheck – The problem usually isn’t money, but your priorities. It isn’t hard for the stuff you own to turn around and own you. You feel obligated to do things you don’t want to do. Your first duty is to yourself. You can’t save the world while you’re miserable. Leading your life isn’t easy. It means freeing yourself from many different assumptions. That freedom can be initially terrifying and painful, which is why so few people do it. It is far easier to just follow the assumptions of society, even if it leaves you unfulfilled. Here are 7 rules that can help you start building a life worth living: Rule One: Never let another person dictate the terms for living your life. Not your parents. Not your spouse. Not your kids. Leading your life means you can accept the input of other people, but the final decision is yours. This means that career choice, relationships, beliefs and way of life are to be judged by you, not anyone else. This rule holds especially when you have doubts. Don’t let your moment of doubt become a weakness to be exploited by others. Not sure what you want to do with your life? Don’t sit passively and let other people decide for ...

  The physically disabled are excluded from numerous parts of society. A major place where they are excluded from is buildings that can’t accommodate them because they don’t have the ramps that need to be used and things like that. Since buildings aren’t ready for them then people who are physically disabled have a limited number of places where they can go, which in the end makes them even more marginalized then before.   Another place in society where they are excluded from is the work place. People aren’t supposed to judge someone and not give them a job just because they are disabled. But, it happens anyways. That makes it hard for them to live in their own and become more independent.   The physically disabled are also excluded from doing sports activities when people who aren’t handicapped. This makes it hard for them to participate in activities because they would have to find a place where the disabled can all play together, in like a league, and those might not be very common in some places.   They are also excluded from possibly hanging out with people that aren’t disabled. Others might not want to associate with them or give them a chance to see who they really are behind their disability. That poses as a problem because it’s not fair to judge someone just because they have a disability.

  There are more ways than ever to find out how much life is worth living, each time you feel so lonely, so depressed and then you start believing that you don’t belong here anymore, just look around you and make up your mind for a while…   Halfway around the world, I’m sure, positive, that there’s someone holding more pain in his heart than I hold in mine, & he suffers much more than I do.My lungs! They’re still full of air! Even the air is encouraging me & saying that I’m still alive, fine & healthy, it will never give up on me, it’s just waiting for me to get over this!!   Let’s make the memory do its job, let it remind you the happy moments that you have ever experienced, I’m pretty sure they’re endless!! So don’t let this horrible thing that happened to you deprive you of enjoying more happy moments, because you do deserve more!!   Look at your friends & the ones who love you, think how horrible they would feel when they know you committed that aweful crime, & they would even feel guilty & say: If I had shown him how much I loved him he would never think about killing himself.   Look at you!! You’re courageous enough to get yourself killed and say goodbye to nice things in life, as the moon, the stars, the sky, food, music, people… How could a living person with a beating heart between his lungs get separated from these things? That needs a high degree of bravery, so how couldn’t you have the courage to face your problems and try to solve them? & Remember, mate, God is the one who gave you life, so ...

A man went to a barber shop to have his hair and his beard trimmed as always. He started to have a good conversation with the barber that attended him. They talked about many things and various subjects. Suddenly, they touched on the subject of God. The barber said: “Look man, I don’t believe that God exists as you say.” “Why do you say that?” asked his client. “Well, it’s so easy, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God does not exist. Tell me, if God existed, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be no suffering nor pain. I can’t think of loving a God who permits all of these things.”   The client stopped for a moment, thinking, but he didn’t want to respond so as to cause an argument. The barber finished his job and the client went out of the shop. Just after he left the barber shop he saw a man in the street with shaggy, long hair and a beard (it seems that it had been a long time since he had his cut, and he looked so untidy). Then the client again entered the barber shop and he said to the barber: “You know what? I think barbers do not exist.”   “How can you say they don’t exist?” asked the barber. “I am a barber and here I am.” “No!” the client exclaimed. “They don’t exist; if they did there would be no people with shaggy, long hair and beards like that man who walks in the street.”   “Ah, barbers do exist,” said the barber. “What happens is that people do not come to me.” “Exactly!” affirmed the client. “That’s the point. God ...

  “In life, I have met my share of people, some love to walk with me, some beside me and some far from me, and some even though they have not had much time to share, have left some of the best footprints in my life….. I never knew how to express these people in words, because their love and gratitude has changed a piece of life once and forever……”   A few have loved me for who I am, and a few have scorned me more than I could ever imagine, and I know that life still moves on even after someone once told me ” You’ve come into my life to prove that all men are bad, all the time”…… Even if your trying to do your best and good, people will hate you, just smile at them and move on. I can only wish the best and the best alone to those people who have shared a piece of my life….. It’s because of them that I am who I am today.   For now, I just want to share to the world, a few words about such people and their reasons…. Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there, they serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson or help figure out who you are or who you want to become.   You never know who these people may be; your roommate, your neighbor, professor, long lost friend, lover or even a complete stranger who, when you lock eyes with them, you know that very moment that they will affect your life in some profound way.   And sometimes things happen to you and at the time they seem horrible, painful and unfair, but in reflection you realize that ...

Births : 1222 – Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester, English soldier (d. 1262) 1290 – Leopold I, Duke of Austria (d. 1326) 1521 – Pope Urban VII (d. 1590) 1604 – François Hédelin, abbé d’Aubignac, French writer (d. 1676) 1701 – Thomas Blackwell, Scottish classical scholar (d. 1757) 1719 – Johann Gottlob Lehmann, German mineralogist and geologist (d. 1767) 1721 – Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, English politician (d. 1803) 1755 – Nicolas-Jacques Conté, French painter and inventor (d. 1805) 1792 – Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet (d. 1822) 1805 – William Rowan Hamilton, Irish mathematician (d. 1865) 1821 – James Springer White, American theologian (d. 1881) 1821 – Louis Vuitton, French designer (d. 1892) 1834 – John Venn, English mathematician (d. 1923) 1839 – Walter Pater, English essayist and critic (d. 1894) 1844 – Henri Berger, German composer and royal bandmaster (d. 1929) 1848 – Vladimir Sukhomlinov, Russian general (d. 1926) 1859 – Knut Hamsun, Norwegian writer, Nobel Laureate (d. 1952) 1865 – Gus Kempis, South African cricketer (d. 1890) 1867 – Jake Beckley, American baseball player (d. 1918) 1870 – Sir Harry Lauder, Scottish entertainer (d. 1950) 1876 – Giovanni Giuriati, Italian politician (d. 1970) 1884 – Henri Cornet, French cyclist (d. 1941) 1884 – Béla Balázs, Hungarian-Jewish film critic, writer and poet (d. 1949) 1888 – Syedna Taher Saifuddin, Indian Dawoodi Bohra leader, 51st Da’i al-Mutlaq (d. 1965) 1890 – Dolf Luque, Cuban baseball player (d. 1957) 1891 – Margit Makay, Hungarian actress (d. 1989) 1899 – Ezra Taft Benson, American religious figure (d. 1994) 1900 – Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Scottish consort ...

Events : 70 – The destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. 367 – Gratian, son of Roman Emperor Valentinian I, is named co-Augustus by his father and associated to the throne aged eight. 1265 – Second Barons’ War: Battle of Evesham – the army of Prince Edward (the future king Edward I of England) defeats the forces of rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, killing de Montfort and many of his allies. 1327 – First War of Scottish Independence: James Douglas leads a raid into Weardale and almost kills Edward III of England. 1532 – the Duchy of Brittany is annexed to the Kingdom of France. 1578 – Battle of Al Kasr al Kebir – the Moroccans defeat the Portuguese. King Sebastian of Portugal is killed in the battle, leaving his elderly uncle, Cardinal Henry, as his heir. This initiates a succession crisis in Portugal. 1693 – Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Perignon’s invention of Champagne, although he actually did not have anything to do with sparkling wine. 1704 – War of the Spanish Succession: Gibraltar is captured by an English and Dutch fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir George Rooke and allied with Archduke Charles. 1789 – In France members of the National Constituent Assembly take an oath to end feudalism and abandon their privileges. 1790 – A newly passed tariff act creates the Revenue Cutter Service (the forerunner of the United States Coast Guard). 1791 – The Treaty of Sistova is signed, ending the Ottoman–Habsburg wars. 1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Napoleon leads the French Army of Italy to victory in the Battle of Lonato. 1821 – Atkinson & Alexander publish The Saturday Evening Post for the first time as a weekly ...

Births : 10 BC – Claudius, Roman emperor (d. 54) 126 – Pertinax, Roman emperor (d. 193) 1313 – Emperor K?gon of Japan (d. 1364) 1377 – Emperor Go-Komatsu of Japan (d. 1433) 1545 – Andrew Melville, Scottish theologian and religious reformer (d. 1622) 1555 – Edward Kelley, English spirit medium (d. 1597) 1579 – Luis Vélez de Guevara, Spanish writer (d. 1644) 1626 – Sabbatai Zevi, Montenegrin rabbi, kabbalist, and founder of the Jewish Sabbatean movement (d. 1676) 1630 – Thomas Clifford, 1st Baron Clifford of Chudleigh, English statesman (d. 1673) 1713 – Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (d. 1780) 1714 – Richard Wilson, Welsh painter (d. 1782) 1738 – Jacques François Dugommier, French general (d. 1794) 1744 – Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, French scientist (d. 1829) 1770 – William Clark, American explorer (d. 1838) 1779 – Francis Scott Key, American lawyer and lyricist (d. 1843) 1779 – Lorenz Oken, German naturalist (d. 1851) 1815 – Richard Henry Dana, Jr., American lawyer, politician, and author (d. 1882) 1818 – Maria Mitchell, American astronomer (d. 1889) 1819 – Herman Melville, American writer (d. 1891) 1837 – Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, American labor organizer (d. 1930) 1843 – Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln; 35th United States Secretary of War (d. 1926) 1856 – George Coulthard, Former Australian rules footballer and cricketer (d. 1883) 1858 – Hans Rott, Austrian composer (d. 1884) 1858 – Gaston Doumergue, French President (d. 1937) 1861 – Sammy Jones, Former Australian cricketer (d. 1951) 1871 – John Lester, American cricketer (d. 1969) 1881 – Otto Toeplitz, German mathematician (d. 1940) 1885 – George de Hevesy, Hungarian radiochemist ...

Events : 30 BC – Octavian (later known as Augustus) enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Republic. 69 – Batavian rebellion: The Batavians in Germania Inferior (Netherlands) revolt under the leadership of Gaius Julius Civilis. 527 – Justinian I becomes the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire. 607 – Ono no Imoko is dispatched as envoy to the Sui court in China (Traditional Japanese date: July 3, 607). 902 – Taormina, the last Byzantine stronghold in Sicily, is captured by the Aghlabids army. 1192 – Richard the Lionheart landed on Jaffa and defeated the army of Saladin 1203 – Isaac II Angelos, restored Eastern Roman Emperor, declares his son Alexios IV Angelos co-emperor after pressure from the forces of the Fourth Crusade. 1291 – The Old Swiss Confederacy is formed with the signature of the Federal Charter. 1498 – Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to visit what is now Venezuela. 1620 – The Speedwell leaves Delfshaven to bring pilgrims to America by way of England. 1664 – The Ottoman Empire is defeated in the Battle of Saint Gotthard by an Austrian army led by Raimondo Montecuccoli, resulting in the Peace of Vasvár. 1759 – Seven Years’ War: The Battle of Minden, an allied Anglo-German army victory over the French. In Britain this was one of a number of events that constituted the Annus Mirabilis of 1759 and is celebrated as Minden Day by certain British Army regiments. 1798 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of the Nile (Battle of Aboukir Bay) – Battle begins when a British fleet engages the French Revolutionary Navy fleet in an unusual night action. 1800 – The Acts of Union 1800 is passed in which merges the Kingdom of Great Britain and ...

Births : 1143 – Emperor Nij? of Japan (d. 1165) 1396 – Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1467) 1527 – Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1576) 1598 – Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor and architect (d. 1654) 1702 – Jean Denis Attiret, French Jesuit missionary and painter (d. 1768) 1704 – Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician (d. 1752) 1718 – John Canton, English physicist (d. 1772) 1724 – Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer (d. 1801) 1737 – Princess Augusta of Great Britain (d. 1813) 1777 – Pedro Ignacio de Castro Barros, Argentine statesman and priest (d. 1849) 1800 – Friedrich Wöhler, German chemist and founder of organic chemistry (d. 1882) 1803 – John Ericsson, Swedish inventor and engineer (d. 1889) 1816 – George Henry Thomas, American general (d. 1870) 1825 – William S. Clark, American senator and scholar (d. 1886) 1835 – Henri Brisson, French statesman (d. 1912) 1835 – Paul du Chaillu, French explorer (d. 1903) 1837 – William Quantrill, American Civil War rebel guerrilla leader (d. 1865) 1843 – Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet (d. 1918) 1847 – Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban pianist and composer (d. 1905) 1858 – Richard Dixon Oldham, British geologist (d. 1936) 1860 – Mary Vaux Walcott, American artist and naturalist (d. 1940) 1867 – Sebastian S. Kresge, American merchant and philanthropist (d. 1966) 1877 – Auguste Daumain, French racing cyclist (death date unknown) 1880 – Premchand, Indian author (d. 1936) 1883 – Ramón Fonst, Cuban fencer (d. 1959) 1884 – Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, German politician (d. 1945) 1886 – Salvatore Maranzano, Sicilian-born American organized crime figure (d. 1931) 1886 – Fred Quimby, American film producer (d. 1965) 1887 ...

Events : 30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian’s forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide. 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: July 6, 781). 904 – Thessalonica falls to the Arabs, who destroy the city. 1009 – Pope Sergius IV becomes the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII. 1201 – Attempted usurpation of John Komnenos the Fat. 1423 – Hundred Years’ War: Battle of Cravant – the French army is defeated at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne. 1451 – Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France. 1492 – The Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect. 1498 – On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad. 1588 – The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England. 1655 – Russo-Polish War (1654–1667): the Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years. 1658 – Aurangzeb is proclaimed Moghul emperor of India. 1667 – Second Anglo-Dutch War: Treaty of Breda ends the conflict. 1703 – Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers. 1715 – A Spanish treasure fleet of 10 ships under Admiral Ubilla leaves Havana, Cuba for Spain. Seven days later, 9 of them sink in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure is salvaged from these wrecks. 1741 – Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia. 1763 – Odawa Chief Pontiac’s forces defeat British troops ...

Births :   1511 – Giorgio Vasari, Italian painter, biographer, art historian and architect (d. 1574) 1549 – Ferdinando I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1609) 1641 – Regnier de Graaf, Dutch physician and anatomist (d. 1673) 1751 – Maria Anna Mozart, Austrian musician (d. 1829) 1763 – Samuel Rogers, English poet (d. 1855) 1809 – Charles Chiniquy, Quebec excommunicated Catholic priest (d. 1899) 1818 – Emily Brontë, English novelist (d. 1848) 1818 – Jan Heemskerk, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1897) 1825 – Chaim Aronson, Lithuanian inventor, academic and memoirs writer (d. 1893) 1855 – Georg Wilhelm von Siemens, German industrialist (d. 1919) 1857 – Thorstein Veblen, American economist (d. 1929) 1859 – Henry Simpson Lunn, English humanitarian (d. 1939) 1863 – Henry Ford, American industrialist (d. 1947) 1864 – Dirk Boest Gips, Dutch sports shooter (d. 1920) 1872 – Princess Clémentine of Belgium (d. 1955) 1881 – Smedley Butler, American Marine general (d. 1940) 1887 – Marquard Schwarz, American freestyle swimmer (d. 1968) 1889 – Vladimir Zworykin, Russian physicist (d. 1982) 1890 – Casey Stengel, American baseball manager (d. 1975) 1893 – Fatima Jinnah, Pakistani political activist, sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and “Mother of the Nation” (d. 1967) 1895 – Wanda Hawley, American actress (d. 1963) 1898 – Henry Moore, English sculptor (d. 1986) 1899 – Gerald Moore, English pianist (d. 1987) 1901 – Alfred Lépine, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1955) 1904 – Salvador Novo, Mexican writer (d. 1974) 1909 – C. Northcote Parkinson, English historian (d. 1993) 1909 – Magda Schneider German actress (d. 1996). 1910 ...

Events : 762 – Baghdad is founded by caliph Al-Mansur. 1419 – First Defenestration of Prague: a crowd of radical Hussites kill seven members of the Prague city council. 1502 – Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras during his fourth voyage. 1608 – At Ticonderoga (now Crown Point, New York), Samuel de Champlain shoots and kills two Iroquois chiefs. This was to set the tone for French-Iroquois relations for the next one hundred years. 1619 – In Jamestown, Virginia, the first representative assembly in the Americas, the House of Burgesses, convenes for the first time. 1629 – An earthquake in Naples, Italy, kills about 10,000 people. 1635 – Eighty Years’ War: The Siege of Schenkenschans begins; Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, begins the recapture of the strategically important fortress from the Spanish Army. 1656 – Swedish forces under the command of King Charles X Gustav defeat the forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth at the Battle of Warsaw. 1729 – Foundation of Baltimore, Maryland. 1733 – The first Masonic Grand Lodge in the future United States is constituted in Massachusetts. 1756 – In Saint Petersburg, Bartolomeo Rastrelli presents the newly-built Catherine Palace to Empress Elizabeth and her courtiers. 1811 – Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, leader of the Mexican insurgency, is executed by the Spanish in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico. 1825 – Malden Island is discovered by captain George Byron, 7th Baron Byron. 1859 – First ascent of Grand Combin, one of the highest summits in the Alps. 1863 – American Indian Wars: Chief Pocatello of the Shoshone tribe signs the Treaty of Box Elder, agreeing to stop the harassment of emigrant ...

Births : 1347 – Queen Margaret of Durazzo (d. 1412) 1643 – Antonio Tarsia, Slovenian composer (d. 1722) 1659 – Charles Ancillon, French pastor (d. 1715) 1746 – Thomas Heyward, Jr., American signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence (d. 1809) 1750 – Fabre d’Églantine French dramatist and politician (d. 1794) 1796 – Ignaz Bösendorfer, Austrian piano manufacturer (d. 1859) 1804 – Ludwig Feuerbach, German philosopher (d. 1872) 1815 – Stefan Dunjov, Bulgarian military figure (d. 1889) 1844 – Gerard Manley Hopkins, English poet (d. 1889) 1857 – Ballington Booth, English-born Salvation Army officer (d. 1940) 1860 – Elias M. Ammons, American politician (d. 1925) 1860 – Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia (d. 1922) 1863 – Huseyn Khan Nakhchivanski, Russian general (d. 1919) 1866 – Beatrix Potter, English author (d. 1943) 1867 – Charles Dillon Perrine, American-born Argentine astronomer (d. 1951) 1872 – Albert Sarraut, French politician (d. 1962) 1874 – Ernst Cassirer, German philosopher (d. 1945) 1879 – Lucy Burns, American suffragist (d. 1966) 1887 – Marcel Duchamp, French painter (d. 1968) 1891 – Ron Oxenham, Australian cricketer (d. 1939) 1896 – Barbara La Marr, American actress (d. 1926) 1898 – Lawrence Gray, American actor (d. 1970) 1900 – Catherine Dale Owen, American actress (d. 1965) 1901 – Rudy Vallée, American entertainer (d. 1986) 1901 – Freddie Fitzsimmons, American baseball player (d. 1979) 1902 – Karl Popper, Austrian-born English philosopher (d. 1994) 1907 – Earl Tupper, American inventor (d. 1983) 1909 – Malcolm Lowry, English novelist (d. 1957) 1909 – Aenne Burda German publisher (d. 2005) 1914 – Carmen Dragon, American ...

Events : 1364 – Troops of the Republic of Pisa and the Republic of Florence clash in the Battle of Cascina. 1540 – Thomas Cromwell is executed at the order of Henry VIII of England on charges of treason. Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day. 1794 – Maximilien Robespierre and Louis Antoine de Saint-Just are executed by guillotine in Paris, France during the French Revolution. 1809 – Peninsular War: Battle of Talavera – Sir Arthur Wellesley’s British, Portuguese and Spanish army defeats a French force led by Joseph Bonaparte. 1821 – José de San Martín declares the independence of Peru from Spain. 1854 – USS Constellation (1854), the last all-sail warship built by the US Navy, is commissioned. 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Ezra Church – Confederate troops make a third unsuccessful attempt to drive Union forces from Atlanta, Georgia. 1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is certified, establishing African American citizenship and guaranteeing due process of law. 1896 – The city of Miami, Florida is incorporated. 1914 – World War I: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia after Serbia rejects the conditions of an ultimatum sent by Austria on July 23 following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. 1932 – U.S. President Herbert Hoover orders the United States Army to forcibly evict the “Bonus Army” of World War I veterans gathered in Washington, D.C. 1933 – Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Spain are established. 1935 – First flight of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. 1942 – World War II: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin issues Order No. 227 in response to alarming German advances into the Soviet Union. ...

An inspiring life: Spencer West  Spencer West was born in Toronto, Canada, 31 years ago. He lost his legs when he was five. Doctors told his parents that he will never be able to sit up. But 26 years later he did impossible: he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro over a seven-day period while traveling on his hands for 80% of the trek.   Inspirational and charismatic, Spencer West speaks candidly about the struggles he overcame after losing his legs at the age of five. He speaks about overcoming stereotyping and bullying, about finding meaning and happiness in a material world and how he never lost the hope or courage needed to mount personal obstacles. Infused with humour and humility, his thought-provoking message inspires people to find opportunity in every challenge. With every speech, Spencer leaves an indelible mark on his audiences, instilling hope and strong leadership so that they can inspire others to create positive change. In 2008, Spencer travelled to Kenya on an international volunteer trip where he helped build a school in a rural community in the Maasai Mara. On this trip, he met young people who strive to overcome challenges every day. He credits this experience for helping him recognize his true calling—to motivate and inspire people around the world. Since he began speaking, Spencer has reached millions of people including students, educators, corporations, college/universities, faith-based groups and families with his encouraging words. He captivated audiences of tens of thousands at We Day events with his keynote address, which was featured nationally on CTV. Spencer has shared the stage with such influential people as His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Dr. Jane Goodall, former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, ...

Births : 1452 – Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1508) 1667 – Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1748) 1733 – Jeremiah Dixon, English surveyor and astronomer (d. 1779) 1740 – Jeanne Baré, French explorer (d. 1803) 1741 – François-Hippolyte Barthélémon, French violinist and composer (d. 1808) 1752 – Samuel Smith, American politician (d. 1839) 1768 – Charlotte Corday, French aristocrat (d. 1793) 1773 – Jacob Aall, Norwegian journalist and statesman (d. 1844) 1777 – Thomas Campbell, Scottish poet (d. 1844) 1777 – Henry Trevor, 21st Baron Dacre, English soldier (d. 1853) 1781 – Mauro Giuliani, Italian composer (d. 1828) 1784 – Denis Davydov, Russian general and poet (d. 1839) 1812 – Thomas Clingman, American Confederate general (d. 1897) 1824 – Alexandre Dumas, fils, French author (d. 1895) 1833 – Thomas George Bonney, English geologist (d. 1923) 1835 – Giosuè Carducci, Italian writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1907) 1848 – Loránd Eötvös, Hungarian physicist (d. 1919) 1848 – Thomas Herbst German painter (d. 1915) 1853 – Vladimir Korolenko, Ukrainian-Russian writer (d. 1921) 1857 – José Celso Barbosa, Puerto Rican politician (d. 1921) 1866 – António José de Almeida, President of Portugal (d. 1929) 1867 – Enrique Granados, Spanish composer (d. 1916) 1870 – Hilaire Belloc, English writer (d. 1953) 1877 – Ern? Dohnányi, Hungarian composer and conductor (d. 1960) 1879 – Jack Laviolette, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1960) 1881 – Hans Fischer, German chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1945) 1882 – Geoffrey de Havilland, British aircraft designer (d. 1965) 1886 – Ernst May, German architect (d. 1970) 1889 – Vera Karalli, Russian ballerina and actress (d. 1972) 1891 ...

Events : 1054 – Siward, Earl of Northumbria invades Scotland and defeats Macbeth, King of Scotland somewhere north of the Firth of Forth. 1189 – Friedrich Barbarossa arrives at Niš, the capital of Serbian King Stefan Nemanja, during the Third Crusade. 1202 – Battle of Basian. 1214 – Battle of Bouvines : Philip II of France decisively defeats Imperial, English and Flemish armies, effectively ending John of England’s Angevin Empire. 1302 – Battle of Bapheus: decisive Ottoman victory over the Byzantines opening up Bithynia for Turkish conquest. 1549 – The Jesuit priest Francis Xavier’s ship reaches Japan. 1663 – The English Parliament passes the second Navigation Act requiring that all goods bound for the American colonies have to be sent in English ships from English ports. 1689 – Glorious Revolution: the Battle of Killiecrankie ends. 1694 – A Royal charter is granted to the Bank of England. 1720 – The Battle of Grengam marks the second important victory of the Russian Navy. 1778 – American Revolution: First Battle of Ushant – British and French fleets fight to a standoff. 1789 – The first U.S. federal government agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs, is established (it will be later renamed Department of State). 1794 – French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre is arrested after encouraging the execution of more than 17,000 “enemies of the Revolution”. 1862 – Sailing from San Francisco, California to Panama City, Panama, the SS Golden Gate catches fire and sinks off Manzanillo, Mexico, killing 231. 1865 – Welsh settlers arrive at Chubut in Argentina. 1866 – The first permanent transatlantic telegraph cable is successfully completed, stretching from Valentia ...

Births : 030 – Stanislaus of Szczepanów, Polish bishop and martyr (d. 1079) 1678 – Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1711) 1739 – George Clinton, American politician (d. 1812) 1782 – John Field, Irish composer (d. 1837) 1791 – Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart, Austrian composer (d. 1844) 1802 – Mariano Arista, 42nd President of Mexico (d. 1855) 1829 – Auguste Marie François Beernaert, Belgian statesman, Nobel laureate (d. 1912) 1842 – Alfred Marshall, neoclassical economist (d. 1924) 1846 – Texas Jack Omohundro, American frontier scout and actor (d. 1880) 1854 – Philippe Gaucher, French dermatologist (d. 1918) 1855 – Ferdinand Tönnies, German sociologist (d. 1936) 1856 – George Bernard Shaw, Irish writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1950) 1858 – Tom Garrett, Australian cricketer (d. 1943) 1865 – Philipp Scheidemann, 1st Chancellor of the Weimar Republic (d. 1939) 1865 – Rajanikanta Sen, Bengali poet and composer (d. 1910) 1874 – Serge Koussevitzky, Russian conductor (d. 1951) 1875 – Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist (d. 1961) 1875 – Antonio Machado, Spanish poet (d. 1939) 1880 – Volodymyr Vynnychenko, Ukrainian statesman (d. 1951) 1885 – André Maurois, French author (d. 1967) 1886 – Lars Hanson, Swedish actor (d. 1965) 1888 – Reginald Hands, South African cricketer (d. 1918) 1892 – Sam Jones, American baseball player (d. 1966) 1893 – George Grosz, German painter (d. 1959) 1894 – Aldous Huxley, English-born author (d. 1963) 1895 – Jane Bunford, English giant (d. 1922) 1895 – Gracie Allen, American actress and comedian (d. 1964) 1896 – Henry Birkin, English racing driver (d. 1933) 1897 – Paul Gallico, American novelist (d. 1976) 1903 – Estes Kefauver, American politician (d. ...

Events : 657 – First Fitna: the Battle of Siffin see the troops led by Ali ibn Abi Talib and those led by Muawiyah I clashing. 811 – Battle of Pliska: Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros I I is killed and his heir Staurakios is seriously wounded. 920 – Rout of an alliance of Christian troops from Navarre and Léon against the Muslims at Pamplona. 1309 – Henry VII is recognized King of the Romans by Pope Clement V. 1469 – Wars of the Roses: the Battle of Edgecote Moor pitting the forces of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick against those of Edward IV of England takes place. 1509 – The Emperor Krishnadeva Raya ascends to the throne, marking the beginning of the regeneration of the Vijayanagara Empire. 1533 – Atahualpa, the 13th and last emperor of the Incas, dies by strangulation at the hands of Francisco Pizarro’s Spanish conquistadors. His death marks the end of 300 years of Inca civilization. 1581 – Plakkaat van Verlatinghe (Act of Abjuration): the northern Low Countries declare their independence from the Spanish king, Philip II. 1745 – The first recorded women’s cricket match takes place near Guildford, England. 1758 – French and Indian War: the Siege of Louisbourg ends with British forces defeating the French and taking control of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. 1775 – The office that would later become the United States Post Office Department is established by the Second Continental Congress. 1788 – New York ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 11th state of the United States. 1803 – The Surrey Iron Railway, arguably the world’s first public railway, opens in south London, England, Great Britain. 1822 – José de San Martín arrives in Guayaquil, Ecuador, ...