George Jones (1896–1992) was a senior commander in the Royal
Australian Air Force (RAAF). He served as Chief of the Air Staff from
1942 to 1952, the longest continuous tenure of any RAAF chief. During
World War I, Jones fought as an infantryman at Gallipoli before
transferring to the Australian Flying Corps. Posted to a fighter
squadron in France, he achieved seven victories to become an ace, and
was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. After a short spell in
civilian life, he joined the newly formed RAAF in 1921, and rose
steadily through training and personnel commands prior to World War II.
Jones was a surprise appointee as Chief of the Air Staff, and his
achievements were coloured by a divisive relationship with the head of
RAAF operations in the Pacific, Air Vice Marshal William Bostock. This
was partly the result of a divided command structure, which neither man
had any direct role in shaping. After World War II, Jones had overall
responsibility for transforming what was then the world's fourth largest
air force into a peacetime service that was also able to meet overseas
commitments in Malaya and Korea. He was promoted to air marshal in 1948,
and knighted in 1953.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Jones_(RAAF_officer)>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1708:
The final stone of St Paul's Cathedral (pictured), rebuilt
after the original burned down in the 1666 Great Fire of London, was
laid by the son of its architect, Christopher Wren.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral>
1881:
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, one of the most famous
gunfights in the history of the American Old West, took place in
Tombstone, Arizona, between the faction of Wyatt Earp and Ike Clanton's
gang.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfight_at_the_O.K._Corral>
1944:
World War II: In one of the largest naval battles in modern
history, Allied forces defeated the Imperial Japanese Navy at the Battle
of Leyte Gulf in the seas surrounding the Philippine island of Leyte.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leyte_Gulf>
1979:
President of South Korea Park Chung-hee was assassinated by the
director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency and a long-time
friend, Kim Jae-kyu.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Chung-hee>
1985:
The Australian government returned ownership of Uluru, also
known as Ayers Rock, to the local Pitjantjatjara people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uluru>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
antihero:
(literature) A protagonist who proceeds in an unheroic manner, such as
by criminal means, via cowardly actions, or for mercenary goals.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antihero>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The greatest achievements of men, were at first, nothing but
dreams of the minds of men who knew that dreams are the seedlings of all
achievements. A burning desire, to be and to do, is the starting point,
from which the dreamer must take off.
--Napoleon Hill
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Napoleon_Hill>