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April 17 in Scottish History

On 17 April 1932, Sir Patrick Geddes, the Scottish biologist and social scientist, died.Geddes is regarded as the founding father of town planning. Although he was trained as a biologist, he applied biological knowledge to striving to create an ideal environment for human existence. The author of 'City Development' and 'Cities in Evolution', Geddes was greatly troubled by the plight of refugees of the war between Armenians and the Ottoman Empire in 1896. His response was to travel to Cyprus, helping the displaced people to resettle there in small agricultural and industrial units.

On 17 April 1892, Alexander Mackenzie, the Scottish-born Canadian statesman, died. Mackenzie was the first Liberal Prime Minister of Canada, serving from 1873-78. After the Dominion of Canada was established in 1867, a move that Mackenzie supported, he was elected to the first House of Commons and became leader of the Liberal opposition. When Sir John Macdonald's Conservative government collapsed in 1873, the Liberals took over; but the party was not strong enough to support him, and Prime Minister Mackenzie couldn't succeed in handling the economic problems that Canada faced. In 1878, the Liberals were voted out of power. Two years later, he resigned the leadership of the party but held his parliamentary seat until his death.