On This Day
1842 – The Webster–Ashburton Treaty is signed, establishing the United States–Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.
The Webster–Ashburton Treaty, signed August 9, 1842, was a treaty that resolved several border issues between the United States and the British North American colonies (the region that became Canada). Signed under John Tyler’s presidency, it resolved the Aroostook War, a nonviolent dispute over the location of the Maine–New Brunswick border.[1] It:
Established the border between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods, originally defined in the Treaty of Paris in 1783;
Reaffirmed the location of the border (at the 49th parallel) in the westward frontier up to the Rocky Mountains defined in the Treaty of 1818;
Defined seven crimes subject to extradition;
Called for a final end to the slave trade on the high seas;
Agreed that the two parties would share use of the Great Lakes.
The treaty retroactively confirmed the southern boundary of Quebec that land surveyors John Collins and Thomas Valentine had marked with stone monuments in 1771–1773. The treaty intended that the border be at 45 degrees north latitude, but is in some places nearly a half mile north of the parallel. The treaty was signed by United States Secretary of State Daniel Webster and British diplomat Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton.[2]
Born On This Day
1899 – P. L. Travers, Australian-English author and actress (d. 1996)
Pamela Lyndon Travers, OBE (/ˈtrævərs/; born Helen Lyndon Goff; 9 August 1899 – 23 April 1996) was an Australian-English writer who spent most of her career in England.[1] She is best known for the Mary Poppins series of children’s books, which feature the magical nanny Mary Poppins.
Goff was born in Maryborough, Queensland, and grew up in the Australian bush before being sent to boarding school in Sydney. Her writing was first published as a teenager, and she also worked briefly as a professional Shakespearean actress. Upon emigrating to England at the age of 25, she took the name Pamela Lyndon Travers and adopted the pen name P. L. Travers in 1933, while writing the first of eight Mary Poppins books.
Travers travelled to New York City during World War II while working for the British Ministry of Information. At that time, Walt Disney contacted her about selling to Walt Disney Productions the rights for a film adaptation of Mary Poppins. After years of contact, which included visits to Travers at her home in London, Walt Disney did obtain the rights and the film Mary Poppins premiered in 1964. In 2004, a stage musical adaptation of the books and the film opened in the West End; it premiered on Broadway in 2006. A film based on Disney’s efforts to persuade Travers to sell him the Mary Poppins film rights was released in 2013, Saving Mr. Banks, in which Travers is portrayed by Emma Thompson.
FYI
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wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for January 21 January 21, 2025Picture of the day Gonbo Rangjon with peak elevation 5,520 m (18,110 ft) towers 1,200 m (3,900 ft) above the Kargiakh valley in Zanskar, Ladakh, India. The tents in the foreground indicate the Himalayan scale. Known locally as God's Mountain, climbing is not permitted. The snow-capped range to the right includes the Shinko La pass to Lahaul.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for January 20 January 20, 2025Picture of the day Scientific diagram of arteries, veins, and capillaries. Also shows cross-sectional area differences.