Today is the birthday, in 1832, of Mary Edwards Walker , commonly referred to as Dr. Mary Walker, was an American abolitionist, prohibitionist, prisoner of war in the American Civil War, and surgeon. She is the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor.
In 1855, she earned her medical degree at Syracuse Medical College in New York, married and started a medical practice. She attempted to join the Union Army at the outbreak of the Civil War, but was turned away. She served as a surgeon at a temporary hospital in Washington, D.C. before being hired by Union Forces and assigned to Army of the Cumberland and later the 52nd Ohio Infantry, becoming the first female surgeon in the US Army. She was captured by Confederate forces after crossing enemy lines to treat wounded civilians and arrested as a spy. She was sent as a prisoner of war to Richmond, Virginia until released in a prisoner exchange.
After the war, she became a writer and lecturer, supporting such issues as health care, temperance, women’s rights, and dress reform for women. She was frequently arrested for wearing men’s clothing, and insisted on her right to wear clothing that she thought appropriate. She wrote two books that discussed women’s rights and dress. She replied to criticism of her attire: “I don’t wear men’s clothes, I wear my own clothes.”
Dr. Walker photographed by C. M. Bell
Uh Oh! Inappropriate humor incoming!!!!
[RIP Dame Patricia Routledge 1929-2025]
Today is the birthday, in 1947, of British bass guitarist John McVie, who was a member of the John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and then Fleetwood Mac, who had the 1968 UK No.1 hit ‘Albatross’ and the hits ‘Man of the World’ and ‘Oh Well. In 1977 they scored the US No.1 single ‘Dreams’ taken from their worldwide No.1 album Rumours, which spent 31 weeks on the US chart. In 1968, McVie married blues pianist and singer Christine Perfect, who became a member of Fleetwood Mac two years later. John and Christine McVie divorced in 1976, but continued working together professionally. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3ywicffOj4
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