The Second Arab Siege of Constantinople in 717–718 was a land and sea
offensive by the Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate against the capital city
of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople. In 716, after 20 years of
progressive occupation of the borderlands of Byzantium during its
prolonged internal turmoil, Arabs led by Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik
invaded Byzantine Asia Minor. They made common cause with the general
Leo the Isaurian, who had risen up against Emperor Theodosios III, but
Leo tricked them and secured the Byzantine throne for himself in 717.
The Arab army then crossed into Thrace and built siege lines to blockade
the city, which was protected by the massive Theodosian Walls. The Arab
fleet's attempted blockade was neutralized by the Byzantine navy's Greek
fire (pictured), and the Arab army was crippled by famine and disease
during the unusually hard winter that followed. After the defeat of two
Arab fleets and another Arab army, followed by an attack on their rear
by Bulgarians, the siege was lifted in 718. Although regular attacks on
Byzantine territories continued, the Caliphate's goal of conquest was
abandoned. Historians credit the siege with halting the Muslim advance
into Europe, and rank it among history's most consequential battles.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_(717%E2%80%9318)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1789:
The Power of Sympathy by William Hill Brown, widely considered
to be the first American novel, was published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Sympathy>
1840:
The French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville discovered Adélie
Land, Antarctica.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Dumont_d%27Urville>
1931:
Sir Isaac Isaacs became the first Australian-born Governor-
General of Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Isaacs>
1968:
Cold War: A B-52 bomber carrying four nuclear weapons crashed
onto sea ice near Thule Air Base, Greenland, causing widespread
radioactive contamination.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Thule_Air_Base_B-52_crash>
2011:
Demonstrations in Tirana to protest the alleged corruption of
the Albanian government led to the killings of three demonstrators by
the Republican Guard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Albanian_opposition_demonstrations>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
palinspastic:
(geology, of a map) Showing the previous location of geological
features, correcting for any intervening crustal movements.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/palinspastic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Ever since I arrived to a state of manhood, I have felt a
sincere passion for liberty. The history of nations doomed to perpetual
slavery, in consequence of yielding up to tyrants their natural born
liberties, I read with a sort of philosophical horror; so that the first
systematical and bloody attempt at Lexington, to enslave America,
thoroughly electrified my mind, and fully determined me to take part
with my country.
--Ethan Allen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ethan_Allen>
E. W. Hornung (1866–1921) was an English author and poet who wrote the
A. J. Raffles series of stories about a gentleman thief in late 19th-
century London. After school in the UK, Hornung spent two years in
Australia before returning to London. His first known work was published
in 1887; his Australian experiences strongly influenced his early
writing. In 1898 he wrote "In the Chains of Crime", which introduced
Raffles and his sidekick, Bunny Manders; the characters were based
partly on his friends Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas, and also on
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, the characters created by Hornung's
brother-in-law, Arthur Conan Doyle. The death of Hornung's son in the
First World War brought an end to Hornung's storytelling, and led the
writer to join the YMCA, initially in England, then in France, where he
helped run a canteen and library and published two collections of
poetry. After the war, he wrote more poetry and an account of his time
in France. Hornung's fragile constitution was weakened by the stress of
his war work, and he died at the age of 54. Although much of Hornung's
work has fallen into obscurity, his Raffles stories continue to be
popular, and have inspired numerous film and television adaptations.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._W._Hornung>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1265:
Summoned by Simon de Montfort (pictured), the first English
parliament held its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Montfort%27s_Parliament>
1576:
León in Guanajuato, Mexico, was founded by order of Viceroy
Martín Enríquez de Almanza of New Spain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le%C3%B3n,_Guanajuato>
1843:
Honório Hermeto Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná, became the
de facto first prime minister of the Empire of Brazil.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hon%C3%B3rio_Hermeto_Carneiro_Le%C3%A3o,_Marq…>
1945:
World War II: Germany began the evacuation of 1.8 million
people from East Prussia, an operation which took nearly two months to
complete.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evacuation_of_East_Prussia>
1990:
The Soviet Red Army violently cracked down on Azeri pro-
independence demonstrations in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_January>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
casuistry:
1. The process of answering practical questions via interpretation of rules
or cases that illustrate such rules, especially in ethics.
2. (pejorative) A specious argument designed to defend an action or
feeling.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/casuistry>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There's this beautiful ocean of bliss and consciousness
that is able to be reached by any human being by diving within, which is
really peaceful and harmonious and can be enlivened by the group
process. … This is all about establishing peace. Right now, we gotta
get peace back in the world. Peace is a real thing.
--David Lynch
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Lynch>
Stan Musial (1920–2013) was an American professional baseball player
and Navy veteran of World War II. He was a Major League Baseball
outfielder and first baseman on the St. Louis Cardinals for 22 seasons,
from 1941 through 1963. Widely considered to be one of the greatest
hitters in baseball history, with 3,630 career hits, Musial ranks fourth
all-time and first in a career spent with only one team. He hit 475 home
runs during his career and was named the National League's Most Valuable
Player three times. In 1946 he earned his third and final World Series
title, despite missing the entire previous season serving with the navy.
He shares the major league record for the most All-Star Games played
(24) with Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, and was a first-ballot inductee
into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969. He was also known for his
harmonica playing, during and after his playing career, and for his
modesty and sportsmanship. Musial was selected for the Major League
Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. In February 2011, President Barack
Obama presented Musial with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of
the highest civilian awards the US government can bestow.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Musial>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1607:
San Agustin Church in Manila, the oldest church in the
Philippines, was completed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Agustin_Church_(Manila)>
1795:
A day after William V, Prince of Orange (pictured), fled the
Dutch Republic as a result of the Batavian Revolution, the Batavian
Republic was established.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batavian_Republic>
1917:
Approximately 50 tons of TNT exploded at a munitions factory in
Silvertown in West Ham, present-day Greater London, killing more than 70
people and injuring more than 400 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvertown_explosion>
1975:
A magnitude 6.8 Ms earthquake struck northern Himachal Pradesh,
India, causing extensive damage to the region.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Kinnaur_earthquake>
2006:
In the deadliest aviation accident in Slovak history, an
Antonov An-24 aircraft operated by the Slovak Air Force crashed in
northern Hungary, killing 42 of the 43 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Slovak_Air_Force_Antonov_An-24_crash>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ascertain:
To find out definitely; to discover or establish.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ascertain>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If there be such a principle as justice, or natural law, it is
the principle, or law, that tells us what rights were given to every
human being at his birth; what rights are, therefore, inherent in him as
a human being, necessarily remain with him during life; and, however
capable of being trampled upon, are incapable of being blotted out,
extinguished, annihilated, or separated or eliminated from his nature as
a human being, or deprived of their inherent authority or obligation.
--Lysander Spooner
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lysander_Spooner>
Majungasaurus is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in
Madagascar from 70 to 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous
Period. Like other abelisaurids, Majungasaurus was a bipedal predator
with a short snout. Although the forelimbs are not completely known,
they were very short, while the hindlimbs were longer and very stocky.
It can be distinguished from other abelisaurids by its wider skull, the
very rough texture and thickened bone on the top of its snout, and the
single rounded horn on the roof of its skull, which was originally
mistaken for the dome of a pachycephalosaur. It also had more teeth in
both upper and lower jaws than most abelisaurids. Known from several
well-preserved skulls and abundant skeletal material, Majungasaurus has
recently become one of the best-studied theropod dinosaurs from the
Southern Hemisphere. It appears to be most closely related to
abelisaurids from India rather than South America or continental Africa,
a fact which has important biogeographical implications. Majungasaurus
was the apex predator in its ecosystem, mainly preying on sauropods like
Rapetosaurus, and is also one of the few dinosaurs for which there is
direct evidence of cannibalism.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majungasaurus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1126:
Emperor Huizong of the Song dynasty of China abdicated in
favour of his son Qinzong.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Huizong_of_Song>
1535:
Conquistador Francisco Pizarro founded Ciudad de los Reyes,
present-day Lima, Peru, as the capital of the lands he conquered for the
Spanish Crown.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Lima>
1915:
Japanese Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu issued the Twenty-One
Demands to China in a bid to increase its power in East Asia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-One_Demands>
1958:
African Canadian Willie O'Ree of the Boston Bruins played his
first game in the National Hockey League, breaking the colour barrier in
professional ice hockey.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_O%27Ree>
1990:
In a sting operation conducted by the FBI, Mayor of Washington,
D.C., Marion Barry was arrested for possession of crack cocaine.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Barry>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
scuttle:
(transitive) To deliberately sink a ship or boat by order of the
vessel's commander or owner.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scuttle>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Everyone has a belief system, B.S., the trick is to learn not
to take anyone's B.S. too seriously, especially your own.
--Robert Anton Wilson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Anton_Wilson>
W. R. Brown (1875–1955) was an American corporate officer of the Brown
Company of Berlin, New Hampshire and an influential breeder of Arabian
horses. He was an early advocate for sustainable forest management
practices and his innovations became industry standards. He was
influenced by the Progressive movement, instituting employee benefits at
the Brown Company such as care for injured workers, predating modern
workers' compensation laws. He founded the Maynesboro Stud in 1912 with
bloodstock from American breeders of Arabian horses, also importing
horses from England, France, and Egypt. At its peak, Maynesboro was the
largest Arabian horse farm in the United States. To prove the abilities
of Arabians, he organized a number of endurance races of up to 300
miles, which his own horses won three times. He served as President of
the Arabian Horse Club of America from 1918 until 1939. His 1929 book
The Horse of the Desert is considered an authoritative work on Arabians,
and the designation "Crabbet/Maynesboro/Kellogg" (CMK) denotes specific
modern lines of American-bred Arabian horses. As a Republican, he served
as a presidential elector for New Hampshire in 1924.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Robinson_Brown>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1377:
Pope Gregory XI entered Rome after a four-month journey from
Avignon, returning the Papacy to its original city and effectively
becoming the last Avignon Pope.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_XI>
1893:
Lorrin A. Thurston, along with the Citizens' Committee of
Public Safety led the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the
government of Queen Liliʻuokalani.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overthrow_of_the_Kingdom_of_Hawaii>
1946:
The United Nations Security Council, the organ of the United
Nations charged with the maintenance of international peace and
security, held its first meeting at Church House in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council>
1955:
USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine, put to sea
for the first time from Groton, Connecticut, with the message, "Underway
on nuclear power."
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Nautilus_(SSN-571)>
2010:
The first spate of violence between Muslims and Christians
began in Jos, Nigeria, and would end in more than 200 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Jos_riots>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
indigent:
Poor; destitute; in need.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/indigent>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
God grant, that not only the Love of Liberty, but a thorough
Knowledge of the Rights of Man, may pervade all the Nations of the
Earth, so that a Philosopher may set his Foot anywhere on its Surface,
and say, "This is my Country."
--Benjamin Franklin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin>
The Mahan-class destroyers of the US Navy were 18 destroyers
commissioned in 1936 and 1937. Mahan was the lead ship, named for Rear
Admiral Alfred T. Mahan, an influential historian and theorist on sea
power. These ships featured improvements over previous destroyers, with
12 torpedo tubes, superimposed gun shelters, generators for emergency
use, and a new steam propulsion system that was used on many subsequent
wartime US destroyers. All 18 ships saw action in World War II, entirely
in the Pacific Theater, including during the Guadalcanal Campaign and
the battles of the Santa Cruz Islands, Leyte Gulf, and Iwo Jima. Their
participation in major and secondary campaigns included the bombardment
of beachheads, amphibious landings, task force screening, convoy and
patrol duty, and anti-aircraft and submarine warfare. Six ships were
lost in combat and two were expended in the postwar Operation Crossroads
nuclear tests. The remainder were decommissioned, sold, or scrapped
after the war; none remain today. Collectively, the ships received 111
battle stars for their World War II service.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahan-class_destroyer>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
27 BC:
Gaius Octavianus was given the title Augustus by the Roman
Senate when he became the first Roman emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus>
1780:
American Revolutionary War: The British Royal Navy gained their
first major naval victory over their European enemies in the war when
they defeated a Spanish squadron in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cape_St._Vincent_(1780)>
1862:
The beam of a pumping engine broke at the Hartley Colliery in
Northumberland, England, and fell down the shaft trapping the men below,
resulting in the deaths of 204 men.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartley_Colliery_Disaster>
1945:
World War II: Adolf Hitler and his staff moved into the
Führerbunker, where he would eventually commit suicide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%BChrerbunker>
1969:
Student Jan Palach set himself on fire in Wenceslas Square in
Prague as a protest against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia the
previous year.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Palach>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
smurf account:
(Internet slang) An alternate account used by a known or experienced
user to appear to be someone else.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/smurf_account>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Literature is dialogue; responsiveness. Literature might be
described as the history of human responsiveness to what is alive and
what is moribund as cultures evolve and interact with one another.
--Susan Sontag
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Susan_Sontag>
Tony Hawk's Underground is a skateboarding-adventure video game
published by Activision in 2003 and 2004 as part of the Tony Hawk's
series. Neversoft developed the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox
versions, while the Game Boy Advance adaptation was developed by
Vicarious Visions and the mobile phone version by Jamdat. Typically for
the series, the player explores levels and completes goals while
performing tricks; atypically, the player creates a custom character
instead of selecting a professional skater, and can explore on foot. The
plot follows the player and their friend Eric Sparrow as the two become
professionals and grow apart. The game was developed with a theme of
individuality, and real-world skateboarders contributed their
experiences to the plot during development. Reviewers praised its wide
appeal, soundtrack, customization, multiplayer features, and plot. The
graphics and the controls for driving vehicles and walking were less
well received. Underground's PlayStation 2 version had sold 2.11 million
copies in the United States by December 2007. A sequel, Tony Hawk's
Underground 2, was released in 2004.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Hawk%27s_Underground>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1815:
War of 1812: American frigate USS President (pictured),
commanded by Commodore Stephen Decatur, was captured by a squadron of
four British frigates.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_USS_President>
1865:
American Civil War: The Union Army captured Fort Fisher, the
last seaport of the Confederacy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Fort_Fisher>
1937:
Spanish Civil War: Nationalists and Republican forces both
withdrew after suffering heavy losses, ending the Second Battle of the
Corunna Road.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_the_Corunna_Road>
1975:
Portugal signed the Alvor Agreement with UNITA, the MPLA, and
the FNLA, ending the Angolan War of Independence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angolan_War_of_Independence>
1991:
Elizabeth II, as Queen of Australia, signed letters patent
allowing Australia to become the first Commonwealth realm to institute
its own separate Victoria Cross award in its own honours system.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Cross_for_Australia>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
floccinaucinihilipilificate:
(colloquial) To describe or regard something as worthless.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/floccinaucinihilipilificate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
As man seeks justice in equality, so society seeks order
in anarchy.
--Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pierre-Joseph_Proudhon>
The Holkham National Nature Reserve is the largest such reserve in
England. It is on the Norfolk coast between Burnham Overy Staithe and
Blakeney, and is managed by Natural England with the cooperation of the
Holkham Estate. Its 3,900 hectares (9,600 acres) include a wide range of
habitats, such as grazing marsh, woodland, salt marsh, sand dunes and
foreshore. The reserve is part of the North Norfolk Coast Site of
Special Scientific Interest, additionally protected through Natura 2000,
Special Protection Area and Ramsar listings, and is part of both an Area
of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a World Biosphere Reserve. Holkham is
important for wintering wildfowl, especially pink-footed geese, Eurasian
wigeons and brent geese, but it also has breeding waders, and attracts
many migrating birds in autumn. A number of scarce invertebrates and
plants can be found in the dunes, and the reserve is one of only two
sites in the UK with an antlion colony. The Vikings navigated the creeks
to establish Holkham village. The reserve was created in 1967 mostly
from the Holkham estate, owned since the 17th century by the Earls of
Leicester, and attracts over 100,000 visitors a year, including
birdwatchers, horse riders and naturists.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holkham_National_Nature_Reserve>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1301:
The Árpád dynasty, which had ruled Hungary since the late 9th
century, ended with the death of King Andrew III.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81rp%C3%A1d_dynasty>
1724:
Philip V, the first Bourbon ruler of Spain, abdicated in favor
of his eldest son Louis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_V_of_Spain>
1900:
Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca, based on the play La Tosca by
French dramatist Victorien Sardou, premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in
Rome.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tosca>
1953:
Josip Broz Tito was inaugurated as the first President of
Yugoslavia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josip_Broz_Tito>
1975:
British teenage heiress Lesley Whittle was kidnapped by Donald
Neilson and subsequently murdered during a failed ransom collection
attempt.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Lesley_Whittle>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
orgulous:
Proud; haughty; disdainful.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/orgulous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Not less strong than the will to truth must be the will
to sincerity. Only an age, which can show the courage of sincerity, can
possess truth, which works as a spiritual force within it.
--Albert Schweitzer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Schweitzer>
The garden warbler (Sylvia borin) is a common small bird that breeds in
most of Europe and in western Asia. It is a plain, long-winged and long-
tailed typical warbler with brown upperparts and dull white underparts;
the sexes are similar and juveniles resemble the adults. The garden
warbler's rich melodic song is similar to that of the blackcap, its
closest relative, which competes with it for territory when nesting in
the same woodland. The preferred breeding habitat in Eurasia is open
woodland with dense low cover for nesting; despite its name, gardens are
rarely occupied by this small passerine bird. The clutch of four or five
blotched cream or white eggs is laid in a robust cup-shaped nest built
near the ground and concealed by dense vegetation. The chicks fledge
about 10 days after hatching, and only about a quarter of young birds
survive their first year. The species winters in sub-Saharan Africa.
Insects are the main food in the breeding season, although fruit
predominates when birds are fattening prior to migration, figs being a
particular favourite where available. Predators include Eurasian
sparrowhawks and domestic cats. Despite a small population decline in
much of its European range, the bird's breeding distribution is
expanding northwards in Scandinavia.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_warbler>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
896:
Emperor Zhaozong appointed Li Keyong as the Prince of Jin, who
began his reign as first emperor of Jin following the collapse of the
Tang Dynasty in China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Keyong>
1815:
War of 1812: British troops captured Fort Peter in St. Marys,
Georgia, the only battle of the war to take place in the state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Peter>
1898:
"J'accuse...!", an open letter by French writer Émile Zola to
President Félix Faure of the French Republic, was published by the
Parisian newspaper L'Aurore, accusing the highest levels of the French
Army in covering up the truth of the Dreyfus affair.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%27accuse>
1915:
About 30,000 people in Avezzano, Italy—96% of its
population—were killed when an earthquake struck the region.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1915_Avezzano_earthquake>
1953:
An article published in Pravda accused some of the most
prestigious physicians in the Soviet Union, mostly Jews, of taking part
in a vast plot to poison members of the top Soviet political and
military leadership.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctors%27_plot>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gherao:
(India) A protest in which a group of people surrounds a politician,
building, etc. until demands are met.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gherao>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Knowledge and understanding are quite different. Only
understanding can lead to being, whereas knowledge is but a passing
presence in it.
--G. I. Gurdjieff
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/G._I._Gurdjieff>
No. 1 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force unit headquartered at
RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland. It operates F/A-18F Super Hornet multi-
role fighters (pictured). The squadron formed under the Australian
Flying Corps in 1916 and saw action in the Middle East during World
War I. Initially equipped with obsolete B.E.2s, it converted to Bristol
Fighters in 1917. No. 1 Squadron was re-established as part of the RAAF
in 1925. During World War II, it flew Lockheed Hudson bombers in the
Malayan and Dutch East Indies campaigns, suffering heavy losses. It
later operated Bristol Beauforts and de Havilland Mosquitos. The
squadron re-formed with Avro Lincoln heavy bombers in 1948. From 1950 to
1958 it was based in Singapore, and was responsible for most of the
Commonwealth air campaign during the Malayan Emergency. On returning to
Australia it re-equipped with English Electric Canberra jets. It
operated F-4E Phantoms from 1970 to 1973, as a stop-gap pending delivery
of the F-111C swing-wing bomber. The F-111 remained in service for 37
years until replaced by the Super Hornet in 2010. A detachment has been
deployed to the Middle East since September 2014 as part of Australia's
contribution to the military intervention against ISIL.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._1_Squadron_RAAF>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1554:
Bayinnaung, who later assembled the largest empire in the
history of Southeast Asia, was crowned king of the Burmese Taungoo
Dynasty.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayinnaung>
1838:
In order to avoid persecution by anti-Mormons, Latter Day Saint
movement founder Joseph Smith (pictured), along with his followers, fled
Kirtland, Ohio for Far West, Missouri.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith>
1895:
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural
Beauty, a conservation organization in England, Wales and Northern
Ireland, was founded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Trust_for_Places_of_Historic_Interes…>
1945:
World War II: The Soviet Union's Red Army crossed the Vistula
River in Poland on their way to invade Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vistula%E2%80%93Oder_Offensive>
1969:
In American football, the New York Jets upset the Baltimore
Colts to win Super Bowl III in one of the greatest upsets in American
sports history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_III>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
heave in sight:
(nautical) To appear at a distance, to emerge in the field of vision.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/heave_in_sight>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Give me few men and women who are pure and selfless and I shall
shake the world.
--Swami Vivekananda
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Swami_Vivekananda>