The United States presidential election of 1860 was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1860. The election of President Abraham Lincoln served as a trigger for the outbreak of the American Civil War. The United States had been divided during the 1850s on questions surrounding the expansion of slavery and the rights of slave owners. In 1860, these issues broke the Democratic Party into three factions. Each group felt they could best defeat the Republican Party candidate.
In April 1860 Democrats met in Charleston, South Carolina to select a candidate for the upcoming presidential election. The convention was in complete chaos. Northern democrats wanted to nominate Stephen A. Douglas. Southern democrats would not support him because he supported new states having the popular sovereignty right to choose whether they would allow slavery. The convention could not agree on a candidate. Later, in a separate convention, the northern democrats met again and chose Douglas. The southern democrats chose John C. Breckinridge. He was the Vice President of the United States under President James Buchanan.
Later, a third group, The newly formed Constitutional Union Party chose John Bell as their candidate. The party included a few southern democrats who were against slavery. It also included members of the Whig Party and the Know Nothing party. The Constitutional Union Party was against secession and neutral on the issue of slavery. Bell himself was an ex-democrat.
The Republican party saw an opportunity when the democrats were split. They met in Chicago on May 16–18. William H. Seward was the favorite among many. Abraham Lincoln had become known as a result of his debates with Stephen A. Douglas. He had the advantage the convention was held in Chicago, the center of his support. After two ballots, there was no clear choice. On the third ballot the republicans chose Lincoln.
Lincoln's position on the issue of slavery was known from his senatorial debates with Stephen Douglas in 1858. In one debate he said, "I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free." One of his most memorable quotes he stated, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." Even so, he was considered a moderate on the issue of slavery. He knew he could not end slavery in the south in one step. Instead he only spoke out against slavery in new American territories.
Lincoln won the election with 1,866,452 votes. Douglas received 1,376,957 votes. John Breckinridge and John Bell shared the remaining 1,438,660 votes cast. Lincoln won the majority of the electoral college giving him the presidency. But he won without carrying a single Southern state. Before Lincoln's inauguration as president, seven Southern states declared their secession. In his inaugural address, Lincoln spoke to the Southern states. He said, "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war". He went on to say, "The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect, and defend' it." Lincoln called them friends and told them we are not enemies. Unfortunately by this time Jefferson Davis was already the president of the Confederacy. They were later joined by Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Two states, Kentucky and Missouri, attempted to remain neutral.
On April 12, 1861, the first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter, South Carolina.
Cătălina Ponor
Cătălina Ponor (; born 20 August 1987) is a Romanian artistic gymnast. She has won five medals at the Summer Olympics, three of them were gold medals.
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Gregory Pardlo
Gregory Pardlo (born 1968) is an American poet, writer, and professor. His book "Digest" won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.x In 2007, Pardlo's first book "Totem" received the American Poetry Review/ Honickman Prize.
Parldo was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1968. He grew up in Willingboro, New Jersey. Gregory Pardlo received his B.A. in English from Rutgers University. In 2001, he earned his M.F.A. from New York University. He was the New York Times Fellow in Poetry. He has received other fellowships. He is a fellow at the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Cave Canem Foundation, the MacDowell Artist's Colony, the Seaside Institute. Also, the Lotos Club Foundation, and City University of New York. He received a translation grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. He is a Teaching Fellow at Columbia University.
Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi
Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi (‎; 1938 – 21 April 2015) was an Egyptian poet. Before his death, he worked on children's books. His best known work is "Death on the Asphalt". He was one of a generation of poets who wrote their work in the Egyptian dialect rather than in normal Arabic, the normal literary language.
Abnudi was born in Qena Governorate. He was married to director Attiyat El Abnoudy. He later married Nehal Kamal. He had two children, Nour and Aya.
Abnudi died from problems caused by brain surgery on 21 April 2015, aged 76.
Steve Byrnes
Steven Patrick "Steve" Byrnes (April 14, 1959 – April 21, 2015) was an American television announcer and producer. In 1985, he began his working on auto racing reporting, mostly NASCAR. In 2001, he began working with "NASCAR on Fox" as a pit reporter, and later became the host of Fox Sports 1's studio show "NASCAR Race Hub".
Byrnes was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in New Carrolton, Maryland. He was married to Karen Goines from 1993 until his death. They had a son, Bryson.
Byrnes died from head and neck cancer on April 21, 2015 in Fort Mill, South Carolina. He was 56.
Midge
Midge is a common term for many types of small fly. They are all in a suborder, the Nematocera.
They are found on practically every land area except permanently dry deserts and the frozen zones. Some midges, such as many Phlebotominae (sand fly) and Simuliidae (black fly), are vectors of various diseases. Others are prey items for insectivores, such as various frogs and swallows.
The highland midge of Scotland ("Culicoides impunctatus") is present in huge numbers. It is a significant blood-sucking pest. It is found in upland and lowland areas (fens, bogs and marshes) especially in the north west of Scotland from late spring to late summer.
The habits of midges vary greatly from species to species, though within any particular family midges commonly have similar ecological roles. Examples of families which include midges are:
Ibrahim Yusri
Ibrahim Yusri (20 April 1950 – 20 April 2015) was an Egyptian actor. He worked on movies, stage, and television. His best known movie was "The Terrorist" (1994).
Yusri was born in Giza. He graduated from the Higher Institute for Dramatic Arts in 1975.
Yusri died from kidney failure on his 65th birthday (20 April 2015) in Cairo.
Viktor Ahn
Viktor Ahn (; born November 23, 1985), also known as Ahn Hyun-soo () and Victor An, is a Russian short track speed skating athlete born in South Korea.
Dirndl
A dirndl [ˈdɪʁndl̩] is a type of dress worn by women in Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria and South Tyrol. It is made to look like the traditional clothing that peasants from the Alps used to wear. Originally the term "Dirndl" meant girl in Bavarian. Now it can mean either the dress or a girl. It was also called a "Dirndlgewand". In the 1800s servant girls wore a very similar dress. They were very plain. A heavy, often dark colored dress was worn in winter. It had a long sleeve dirndl blouse and thick apron to go with it. In summer a light version was worn. Summer dresses were worn with a short puffed-sleeve dirndl blouse. Different styles were worn in different regions. The bow on the apron is tied on the left (she is single) or the right side (she is not single).
Sandra Izbașa