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Photograph of Garret Hobart, circa 1896

Garret Hobart (1844–1899) was the 24th Vice President of the United States (1897–1899), serving under President William McKinley. He was the sixth American vice president to die in office. Hobart served in local governmental positions, and then successfully ran for office as a Republican, serving in both the New Jersey General Assembly and the New Jersey Senate. Hobart was a longtime party official, and New Jersey delegates went to the 1896 Republican National Convention determined to nominate the popular lawyer for vice president. Hobart's political views were similar to those of McKinley, who was the presumptive Republican presidential candidate. With New Jersey a key state in the upcoming election, McKinley and his close adviser, future senator Mark Hanna, decided to have the convention select Hobart. The vice-presidential candidate emulated his running mate with a front porch campaign, though spending much time at the campaign's New York City office. McKinley and Hobart were elected. As vice president, Hobart proved a popular figure in Washington and was a close adviser to McKinley. Hobart's tact and good humor were valuable to the President. Hobart died in November 1899 of heart disease at age 55; his place on the Republican ticket in 1900 was taken by New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt. (more...)

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    Derecho damage, Washington, D.C.

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  • On this day...

    July 4: Independence Day in the United States (1776)

    Lewis Carroll

  • 1610Polish–Muscovite War: The outnumbered forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth defeated the Russians at the Battle of Klushino.
  • 1862 – In a rowing boat on the River Thames from Oxford to Godstow, author Lewis Carroll (pictured) told Alice Liddell and her sisters a story that would eventually form the basis for his book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
  • 1950 – The United States' anti-communist propaganda source Radio Free Europe made its first broadcast aimed at Czechoslovakia.
  • 1965 – The first Annual Reminder, a series of early pickets organized by homophile organizations, one of the earliest LGBT demonstrations in the United States, took place at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
  • 1976Israel Defense Forces raided Uganda's Entebbe International Airport to free hostages taken by hijackers on Air France Flight 139.
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    Today's featured picture

    PET scan with radiopharmaceuticals

    Maximum Intensity Projection (MIP) of a wholebody positron emission tomography (PET) acquisition of a 79 kg (170 lb) female after intravenous injection of radiopharmaceuticals, an example of nuclear medicine, a medical specialty involving the application of radioactive substances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. This technique allows physicians to image the extent of a disease process in the body, based on the cellular function and physiology, rather than relying on physical changes in the tissue anatomy. This particular scan was performed as part of a tumor diagnosis prior to applying radiotherapy. Besides normal accumulation of the tracer in the heart, bladder, kidneys and brain, liver metastases of a colorectal tumor are clearly visible within the yellow and red area in the right upper abdomen.

    Image: Jens Langner

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