On This Day
1900 – The United States Congress passes the Foraker Act, giving Puerto Rico limited self-rule.
The Foraker Act, Pub.L. 56–191, 31 Stat. 77, enacted April 12, 1900, officially known as the Organic Act of 1900, is a United States federal law that established civilian (albeit limited popular) government on the island of Puerto Rico, which had recently become a possession of the United States as a result of the Spanish–American War. Section VII of the Foraker Act also established Puerto Rican citizenship.[1] President William McKinley signed the act on April 12, 1900[2] and it became known as the Foraker Act after its sponsor, Ohio Senator Joseph B. Foraker. Its main author has been identified as Secretary of War Elihu Root.[3]
The new government had a governor and an 11-member executive council appointed by the President of the United States, a House of Representatives with 35 elected members, a judicial system with a Supreme Court and a United States District Court, and a non-voting Resident Commissioner in Congress.[4][5]
The executive council was all appointed: five individuals were selected from Puerto Rico residents while the rest were from those in top cabinet positions, including attorney general and chief of police (also appointed by the president). The Insular Supreme Court was also appointed. In addition, all federal laws of the United States were to be in effect on the island. The first civil governor of the island under the Foraker Act was Charles H. Allen, inaugurated on May 1, 1900, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This law was superseded in 1917 by the Jones–Shafroth Act.
Read more ->
Born On This Day
1788 – Wilhelmine Reichard, German balloonist (d. 1848)
Johanne Wilhelmine Siegmundine Reichard (née Schmidt) (2 April 1788, Braunschweig, Germany – 23 February 1848, Döhlen, Germany)[1] was the first German female balloonist.
Biography
Reichard was the daughter of a cup-bearer of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. She married the chemist and physicist Johann Gottfried Reichard in 1807 and their first child was born in 1807. The family moved to Berlin in 1810. That same year Johann Gottfried Reichard made his first flight in a self-constructed gas balloon from Berlin, making him the second person to fly in a gas balloon in Germany.[2][3]
On 16 April 1811 Wilhelmine Reichard made her first solo flight, starting in Berlin. She reached a height of over 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) and landed safely in Genshagen, 33.5 kilometres (20.8 mi) from her starting point. This was not the first solo flight by a woman in Germany; the Frenchwoman Sophie Blanchard had previously made a flight in September 1810, starting from Frankfurt. Reichard’s third flight in 1811 reached a height of approximately 7,800 metres (25,600 ft). Due to the altitude she lost consciousness and her balloon crash-landed in a forest; badly injured, she was rescued by local farmers.[2][3][4]
After some difficulties during the Napoleonic Wars, her husband wanted to purchase a chemical factory in Döhlen. To raise the money, Wilhemine Reichard conducted several more flights. Her first flight after the accident in 1811 took place in October 1816.[2][3] A later flight took place during the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle in Aachen in 1818. Flights in Prague and Vienna also made her known in Austria-Hungary. Her last flight was in October 1820, starting in Munich at the Oktoberfest, which was held on the 10th anniversary of the first Oktoberfest. In 1821, the chemical factory started operations.[2][3]
Wilhelmine’s husband conducted balloon flights until 1835. He died in 1844, and Wilhelmine managed the chemical factory until her own death in 1848.[2][3]
FYI
NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day
By Matt Goff, Sitka Nature: Sitka Nature Show #259 – 10th Anniversary Show
By Matt Goff, Sitka Nature: Silver Bay Sights
By Isabella Cueto, StatNews: ‘Where the bats hung out’: How a basement hideaway at UC Berkeley nurtured a generation of blind innovators
By Sareen Habeshian, KTLA: Bay Area Park Service ranger, the nation’s oldest, retires at 100
By NICOLE WINFIELD, AP: Pope makes historic Indigenous apology for Canada abuses
Time’s 100 most influential companies of 2022.
Ever had this?
Super Coffee
What could possibly go wrong?
By Joann Muller, author of Axios Navigate, Axios: Look up: Your burrito is arriving by drone
Adam McCann, Financial Writer, Wallet Hub: 2022’s Most & Least Stressed States
By Jennifer A. Kingson, author of Axios Cities, Axios: The hamburger vending machine has arrived
By Alexander Semenov, Nature: The marine biologist whose photography pastime became a profession
By Our World in Data, Visual Capitilist: How Many Humans Have Ever Lived?
By Christa Lesté-Lasserre, New Scientist: Armless fossil sheds light on how animals like snakes lost their limbs A tiny snake-like animal that lived about 308 million years ago had evolved to lose its forelimbs
Border Collies: Best game of keepie-uppie I’ve ever seen
Worth the quick listen:
https://youtu.be/pTh4PWSQlyM
“Just because you’re offended doesn’t mean you are right. Some people are offended by equality…. I’m not doing it for the 200 egos in the room, I’m doing it for the 200 million people who aren’t winning awards, who aren’t millionaires….If you can laugh in the face of adversity, you are bulletproof.”
Ricky Gervais
Recipes
Little House Big Alaska: Maple Brown Sugar Roasted Acorn Squash
Homemade on a Weeknight: Kielbasa & Potato Sheet Pan Dinner
Just the Recipe: Paste the URL to any recipe, click submit, and it’ll return literally JUST the recipe- no ads, no life story of the writer, no nothing EXCEPT the recipe.
DamnDelicious
RecipeTinEats
- Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel June 12, 2026Firstly, thank you for the Jaffle love. 🥰 Hit the Jaffle button above to see what he got up to today! Secondly – cake. Specifically, Coffee Cake! A classic crumb cake with a jammy cinnamon ribbon, loaded with lots and lots of nubbly, extra crunchy cinnamon streusel. Outrageously good. Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel This... […]Nagi
- Introducing Jaffle! June 10, 2026Meet Jaffle! Future Chief Taste Tester. Son of a Dozer friend. A little bundle of golden, fluffy joy! 48 hours of instant happiness I didn’t expect to get a new puppy so soon after saying goodbye to Dozer. To be honest, I wasn’t sure when I’d be ready. And I had it in my head... […]Nagi
wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 14 June 14, 2026Picture of the day Wulfenite crystals with calcite, found in the Erupción Mine, Sierra de Los Lamentos, Ahumada Municipality, Chihuahua, Mexico.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 13 June 13, 2026Picture of the day An image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on a stained-glass window located in a church in St. Peters, Missouri. Today is the feast day of the Immaculate Heart in the Roman Catholic Church.
E-book Deals:
The Book Junction: Where Readers Go To Discover Great New Fiction!
Mystery & Thriller Most Wanted
Book Blogs & Websites:
Welcome to the Stump the Bookseller blog!
Stump the Bookseller is a service offered by Loganberry Books to reconnect people to the books they love but can’t quite remember. In brief (for more detailed information see our About page), people can post their memories here, and the hivemind goes to work. After all, the collective mind of bibliophiles, readers, parents and librarians around the world is much better than just a few of us thinking. Together with these wonderful Stumper Magicians, we have a nearly 50% success rate in finding these long lost but treasured books. The more concrete the book description, the better the success rate, of course. It is a labor of love to keep it going, and there is a modest fee. Please see the How To page to find price information and details on how to submit your Book Stumper and payment.
Thanks to everyone involved to keep this forum going: our blogging team, the well-read Stumper Magicians, the many referrals, and of course to everyone who fondly remembers the wonder of books from their childhood and wants to share or revisit that wonder. Isn’t it amazing, the magic of a book?