Main Page

John L. Helm (1802–1867) was the 18th and 24th governor of Kentucky, although his aggregate service in that office was less than fourteen months. He also represented Hardin County in both houses of the Kentucky General Assembly and was chosen Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives four times. In 1838 his sole bid for national office ended in defeat when his opponent, Willis Green, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. After his service as governor Helm became president of the struggling Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Although he openly opposed secession during the American Civil War, federal military forces labeled Helm a Confederate sympathizer. In September 1862, he was arrested for this alleged sympathy, but Governor James F. Robinson recognized him as he was being transported to a prison in Louisville and had him released. After the war Helm identified with the Democratic Party, and in 1865 Hardin County voters returned him to the state senate. In 1867 he was the state's Democratic candidate for governor. Despite his failing health, Helm made a vigorous canvass of the state and won the general election. He was too weak to travel to Frankfort for his inauguration, so state officials administered the oath of office at his home on September 3, 1867. He died five days later. (more...)

Recently featured: "Like a Rolling Stone" – Princess Charlotte of Wales – "Homer's Enemy"

From Wikipedia's newest articles:

• ... that a wilt disease, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense, could cause the Cavendish banana (pictured) to become commercially unavailable?
• ... that Polish athlete Edward Sarul became the first ever World Champion in the shot put in 1983 but missed the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics due to the Eastern Bloc boycott?
• ... that the Groningen gas field is the largest natural gas field in Europe and the tenth largest in the world?
• ... that first white settlers of the Town of La Sarre, in Quebec, Canada, were squatters on the land who were discovered during a survey in 1908?
• ... that Julia Bonds was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for leading the fight against the practice of mountaintop removal mining in the Appalachian mountain range?
• ... that the name of the Brazo Anti-Radiation Missile was intended as a pun?
  
  Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

• Iran Air Flight 277 crashes near Urmia Airport, West Azarbaijan, Iran, killing at least 70 people.
• A shooting in Arizona leaves at least six people dead and U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords (pictured) critically injured.
• Andrew Wakefield's study linking autism to the MMR vaccine is declared a fraud by the British medical journal BMJ.
• The U.S. government oil spill commission releases a report accusing BP, Halliburton and Transocean of managerial failure in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
• A series of floods affects more than 450,000 people in the Philippines.
• Salmaan Taseer, the Governor of the Pakistani province of Punjab, is assassinated.
  Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...

January 9

• 1127 – Invading Jin soldiers besieged and sacked Kaifeng and abducted Emperor Qinzong (pictured) and others, ending the Northern Song Dynasty of China.
• 1768 – Philip Astley staged the first modern circus in London.
• 1909 – Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition, planted the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km) from the South Pole, the furthest anyone had ever reached at that time.
• 1917 – World War I: Troops of the British Empire defeated Ottoman forces at the Battle of Rafa on the Sinai–Palestine border in present-day Rafah.
• 1972 – The Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, ending a 33-game winning streak, the longest of any team in American professional sports.

More anniversaries: January 8 – January 9 – January 10