To all appearances it was to be another particularly warm and humid but uneventful summer day as the sun rose above Lawrence, Kansas on 21 August 1863. Insects buzzed in the high grass, and the air was still.
Far to the east, the Civil War had been raging for more than two years, and, with the fall of Vicksburg and the pivotal victory at Gettysburg earlier that summer, the Union’s efforts appeared to be bearing fruit. Many in Washington D.C. felt that the end was in sight.
Out west, at Lawrence, there was little evidence of the war. A sleepy but prosperous city of brick and clapboard structures arranged in neat, well-ordered streets, it boasted a robust downtown area and well-appointed hotels such as the stately Eldridge that catered to visiting businessmen. That would all change on this fateful day.
Albania: the visit of the World Bank President