On This Day
1293 – An earthquake strikes Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, killing about 23,000.[5]
The 1293 Kamakura earthquake in Japan occurred at about 06:00 local time on 27 May 1293.[2] It had an estimated magnitude of 7.1–7.5[3] and triggered a tsunami. The estimated death toll was 23,024.[1] It occurred during the Kamakura period, and the city of Kamakura was seriously damaged.
In the confusion following the quake, Hōjō Sadatoki, the Shikken of the Kamakura Shogunate, carried out a purge against his subordinate Taira no Yoritsuna. In what is referred to as the Heizen Gate Incident, Yoritsuna and 90 of his followers were killed.
It has been suggested that the reference to a large tsunami may be incorrect,[4] although a tsunami deposit has been found that is consistent with this age.[5]
Born On This Day
1899 – Muriel McQueen Fergusson, Canadian lawyer and politician, Canadian Speaker of the Senate (d. 1997)
Muriel McQueen Fergusson, PC OC QC (May 26, 1899 – April 11, 1997) was a Canadian activist, judge and politician. Fergusson served in the Senate of Canada and the first woman Speaker of the Senate. She is known for a long career of advocating for the less privileged, most often women.[1]
Born in Shediac, New Brunswick, she graduated from Mount Allison University in 1921 with a B.A..[2] In 1926, she retired from only one year’s practice at law in the office of her barrister father, James McQueen, to marry Aubrey S. Fergusson.[3] She lived with her husband in Grand Falls, New Brunswick, for ten years, during which time she opened the Malabeam Tea Room, and organized community activities including founding the Grand Falls Literary Club. She was readmitted to the bar in 1936 to support her family after her husband became ill from earlier injuries acquired during service in the First World War; he died six years later. She gradually took over her husband’s practice and soon after became New Brunswick’s first female judge of a probate court.[1] She also became clerk of the county court and the circuit court and the town solicitor for Grand Falls.[3]
Fergusson fought for increased participation of women in politics. In 1946, she successfully petitioned for the right of all women in New Brunswick to vote in municipal elections.[3] Soon after, she challenged the ban on women running for Fredericton City Council. Because no one stepped forward to take advantage, McQueen Fergusson ran for Alderman and won by acclamation in 1950 and 1951.
Fergusson also advocated for pay equity and protection of women’s and children’s rights. She spoke regularly at women’s group events on topic of pay equity and wills. She fought to have a pay raise of $100 per year for all male city employees expanded to included female employees as well, up from the proposed $50 per year for females.[3] With the support of letter-writing campaigns by various women’s groups, she became the Director of Family Allowances, a position that had originally been restricted to males.[1] Throughout her life, she volunteered with many organizations, including the Girl Guides of Canada and other charitable causes focused on girls and women.[4]
She was the first woman elected, in 1950, to the Fredericton City Council as a city councilor and was the first woman deputy mayor in 1953.[2]
She was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1953 and was the first woman Speaker of the Senate from 1972 to 1974. She retired in 1975.[2]
In 1974, she was sworn to the Privy Council. In 1976 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.[2]
FYI
Wickersham’s Conscience: Help! Police!
Wickersham’s Conscience: Beaver Fever
Wickersham’s Conscience: Return of Bird of the Week: Red-breasted Sapsucker
Wickersham’s Conscience: Why Camas Prairie Has Its Name
Wickersham’s Conscience: WC’s Epic Fails: Felix and the Moose
Ernie Smith, Tedium: A Home for Mobile Linux The $149 PinePhone isn’t a perfect device, but the nuanced ecosystem it’s going to build for Linux-based smartphones is going to be amazing.
Brain Pickings by Maria Popova: Midweek pick-me-up: Seneca on grief and the key to resilience in the face of loss Inbox
By MessyNessy 13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DLV): Julie d’Aubigny, a French bisexual opera-singing sword fighter; Dolly Parton playing the Autoharp; Lacrosse, North America’s oldest still-played sport, which was played by indigenous people in the 17th Century; Stay in this old Fire Lookout; An abandoned church in the middle of nowhere, Russia; “Memory Lane”, an automaton diorama by Mark Ryden; Just Morgan Freeman Taking a Bath in a Casket (1970) and more ->
The Passive Voice, From The Library of Congress: Care, Handling, and Storage of Works on Paper
Gastro Obscura: The lost art of growing blueberries with fire; A cooking competition in the Pacific islands has a life-saving mission and more ->
Gastro Obscura: Häagen-Dazs is from the Bronx—so what’s with the name?; Food testing in 1902 featured a bow tie–clad group of 12 men; The true origins of South Carolina’s benne wafers and more ->
Atlas Obscura: Hunting radioactive glassware with black lights and Geiger counters; Holbrook, Arizona: the last place you’d expect to find world-class sake and more ->
Atlas Obscura: Finding gold here in these strange squiggles; National Museum of Health and Medicine; Cannock Chase Military Training Grounds and more ->
NSFW
Ideas
By Ruth Amos: Building My Dream Workshop!
Recipes
By In The Kitchen With Matt: Easy Poached Egg in 90 Seconds
By In The Kitchen With Matt: Air Fryer Chicken Wings
By Amnda_Wlkrs: Healthy and Fluffy Pan Pizza
Damn Delicious: Easy Lo Mein
RecipeTinEats
- Basque Cheesecake September 22, 2023The iconic Basque Cheesecake has landed! With a mousse-like creamy vanilla texture and gorgeous golden “burnt” surface, the flavours remind me of créme caramel. You’ll be amazed how easy this recipe is (she says, 25 versions later 😅). Basque cheesecake The next time you want to make a cake that really stands out, make this... […]Nagi
- Roast potatoes September 20, 2023This is my everyday roast potatoes recipe. No-nonsense, quick prep, great garlic-thyme flavour. Fresh herbs are lovely, though dried can be used in a pinch. Don’t make the mistake of using minced garlic. It burns! My everyday roast potatoes I have a recipe for devilishly good crispy roast potatoes. They are the roast potatoes everybody... […]Nagi
wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for September 22 September 22, 2023Picture of the day Skyline of Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for September 21 September 21, 2023Picture of the day Issued 100 years ago: 100 Million Mark "Notgeld" banknote (21 September 1923), Trier, Germany, design: Fritz Quant, RV: Roman Bridge in Trier.
AV Club Wiki Wormhole
- Peacock un-renews the Pitch Perfect TV show September 22, 2023Ah, the un-renewal: Is there a more ignominious fate for a TV show, or its creators? You get the go-ahead to make more of your thing, get excited to plot out new storylines and character arcs, and then, whoops: Lucy pulls the corporate football away, and you go flying off into the miserable distance.Read more...William Hughes
- "Rich Men North Of Richmond"'s Oliver Anthony signs with Hollywood agency September 22, 2023The saga of Oliver Anthony—the self-published recording artist who garnered national attention, mentions by major politicians, and a whole ton of YouTube views with his sudden breakout hit “Rich Men North Of Richmond”—has now taken a turn for the corporate, it seems. Deadline reports that Anthony (who’s hesitated to…Read more...William Hughes
- Not even Star Wars is a match for Suits September 22, 2023Although we have never, personally, spent millions of dollars and god knows how many hours of human creativity to make a Star Wars TV show—hey, fingers crossed for next year, though!—we have to assume that it’s probably pretty hard to do. Certainly, it seems like the sort of thing where, once you’ve done it, you’d like…Read […]William Hughes
- Before Se7en, David Fincher nearly sunk his teeth into Blade September 22, 2023Today, it’s impossible to imagine David Fincher directing a superhero movie. Honestly, in 1994, it was kind of impossible, too. Considering the hell Fincher went through making Alien³, it seemed like he was done with franchise filmmaking entirely. But leave it to screenwriter David S. Goyer to reveal that he and…Read more...Matt Schimkowitz
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?