By Sabrina Mason
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 76th governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975, and a Georgia state senator from 1963 to 1967. Carter is the longest-lived president in U.S. history and the first to live to 100 years of age.
Carter was born and raised in Plains, Georgia. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946 and joined the U.S. Navy‘s submarine service. Carter returned home after his military service and revived his family’s peanut-growing business. Opposing racial segregation, Carter supported the growing civil rights movement, and became an activist within the Democratic Party. He served in the Georgia State Senate from 1963 to 1967 and then as governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975. As a dark-horse candidate not well known outside Georgia, Carter won the Democratic nomination and narrowly defeated the incumbent Republican Party president Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election.
Carter pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders on his second day in office. He created a national energy policy that included conservation, price control, and new technology. Carter successfully pursued the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal Treaties, and the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. He also confronted stagflation. His administration established the U.S. Department of Energy and the Department of Education. The end of his presidency was marked by the Iran hostage crisis, an energy crisis, the Three Mile Island accident, the Nicaraguan Revolution, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In response to the invasion, Carter escalated the Cold War by ending détente, imposing a grain embargo against the Soviets, enunciating the Carter Doctrine, and leading the multinational boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. He lost the 1980 presidential election in a landslide to Ronald Reagan, the Republican nominee.
After leaving the presidency, Carter established the Carter Center to promote and expand human rights; in 2002 he received a Nobel Peace Prize for related work. He traveled extensively to conduct peace negotiations, monitor elections, and further the eradication of infectious diseases. Carter is a key figure in the nonprofit housing organization Habitat for Humanity. He has also written numerous books, ranging from political memoirs to poetry, while continuing to comment on global affairs, including two books on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Polls of historians and political scientists generally rank Carter as a below-average president, though scholars and the public view his post-presidency, the longest in U.S. history, more favorably.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
In the ancient Roman calendar, October was the name of the eighth month of the year. Its name comes from octo, the Latin word for “eight.” When the Romans converted to a 12-month calendar, they tried to rename this month after various Roman emperors, but the name October stuck. In Old England, the month was called Winmonath, which means “wine month,” for this was the time of year when wine was made. The English also called it Winterfylleth, or “Winter Full Moon.” They considered this full Moon to be the start of winter. In weather lore, we note, “If October brings heavy frosts and winds, then will January and February be mild.”
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Henry III of England –
- James Lawrence (U.S. naval captain) –
- William Boeing (airplane manufacturer) –
- Faith Baldwin (author) –
- Vladimir Horowitz (pianist) –
- Rudy Bond (actor) –
- Walter Matthau (actor) –
- Jimmy Carter (39th U.S. president) –
- William Rehnquist (Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court) –
- Tom Bosley (actor) –
- Sir Richard Harris (actor) –
- Julie Andrews (actress) –
- Mark McGwire (baseball player) –
- Kevin Griffin (musician) –
- Rosanna Tomiuk (water polo player/coach) –
Died
- E. B. White (author) –
- Margaret Gorman Cahill (first Miss America) –
- Walter Annenberg (launched TV Guide magazine and ambassador to Britain) –
- Joyce Jillson (astrologer) –
- George Grizzard (actor) –
- House Peters Jr. (actor; the original Mr. Clean”“) –
- Nick Reynolds (founding member of the Kingston Trio) –
- Tom Clancy (author) –
- Tim Wakefield (baseball player) –
Events
- The first agricultural fair in the U.S. was held in Pittsfield, MA–
- Maria Mitchell discovered comet Mitchell 1847VI–
- Game 1 in the first World Series played. Boston’s Cy Young threw the first pitch.–
- Henry Ford’s Model T automobile was introduced at a price of $850–
- Sea Gull Monument was unveiled in Salt Lake City, Utah–
- Pilot Lt. George Gorman pursued UFO over Fargo, North Dakota–
- The Honeymooners makes its TV debut–
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) founded–
- Johnny Carson first hosted The Tonight Show–
- Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Florida–
- Panama gained sovereignty over Canal, in adherence to treaty provisions–
- Jimmy Carter became the first U.S. president to turn 100 years old–
Weather
- Pilot Lt. George Gorman pursued a UFO over Fargo, North Dakota. The official explanation later stated that what he chased was a weather balloon – but many people remain unconvinced.–
- Topeka, Kansas, had a low temperature of 32 degrees F–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
