Bill Newton (8 June 1919 – 29 March 1943) was an Australian
recipient of the Victoria Cross, honoured for his actions as a bomber
pilot in Papua New Guinea during March 1943. Raised in Melbourne, he
joined the Citizen Military Forces in 1938 and enlisted in the Royal
Australian Air Force (RAAF) in February 1940. He served as a flying
instructor in Australia before being posted to No. 22 Squadron, which
began operating Boston light bombers in New Guinea late in 1942. Having
just taken part in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, he was on his fifty-
second mission when he was shot down. Newton was still posted as missing
when given the Victoria Cross in October 1943. It later emerged that he
was captured by the Japanese and beheaded. Newton was the only
Australian airman to receive a Victoria Cross for action in the South
West Pacific theatre of World War II, and the sole Australian to be so
decorated while flying with an RAAF squadron.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Newton>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1862:
American Civil War: The Confederate Army won a resounding
victory at the Battle of Cross Keys, one of the two decisive battles in
Jackson's Valley campaign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cross_Keys>
1929:
Margaret Bondfield became the first female member of the
Cabinet of the United Kingdom when she was named Minister of Labour by
Ramsay MacDonald.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Bondfield>
1941:
World War II: The Allies commenced the Syria–Lebanon campaign
against Vichy French possessions in the Levant.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria%E2%80%93Lebanon_campaign>
1953:
An F5 tornado struck Flint and Beecher, Michigan, causing 116
fatalities, 844 injuries and $19 million in damage during a larger
tornado outbreak sequence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint%E2%80%93Worcester_tornado_outbreak_sequ…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
memory hole:
1. A figurative place to which information is deliberately sent to be
forgotten, or to which forgotten or lost information ends up; nowhere,
oblivion.
2. (computing)
3. A fragment of physical address space which does not map to main
memory.
4. (rare) Synonym of memory leak (“any of several faults in the memory
allocation logic of a computer or program whereby parts of memory become
hidden or unusable”)
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/memory_hole>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I was taught by both of my parents to work hard, to be passionate
about whatever I did, and I felt that I did that and kind of got to
where I am today because of hard work and passion and determination.
--Ashley Biden
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ashley_Biden>
Munsey's Magazine was an American magazine founded by Frank Munsey in
1889. Originally launched in 1889 as Munsey's Weekly, it became an
illustrated monthly in 1891, printing both fiction and non-fiction. In
1893 the price was reduced from 25 to 10 cents and circulation rose to
more than 250,000 issues. The same year Munsey became one of the first
publishers to regularly feature a pretty girl on the cover. Circulation
was also helped by the liberal use of illustrations, and reached a peak
of about 700,000 in 1897, declining in the 1910s. Well-known writers
appeared, including O. Henry, Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Rice Burroughs,
P. G. Wodehouse, and Joseph Conrad. In 1929 it was merged with Argosy,
another of Munsey's magazines. Magazine historians consider Munsey's to
have started a revolution in magazine publishing by setting a low price
to increase circulation, and attracting sufficient advertising revenue
to make a substantial profit. Other magazines quickly followed the
example of Munsey's.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munsey%27s_Magazine>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1628:
The Petition of Right, a major English constitutional document
that set out specific liberties of individuals, received royal assent
from King Charles I.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petition_of_Right>
1917:
First World War: The British Army detonated 19 ammonal mines
under German lines, killing perhaps 10,000 in the deadliest non-nuclear
man-made explosion in history during the Battle of Messines.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Messines_%281917%29>
1948:
Anti-Jewish riots broke out in the French protectorate in
Morocco, during which 44 people were killed and 150 injured.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_anti-Jewish_riots_in_Oujda_and_Jerada>
1969:
In their only UK concert, the rock supergroup Blind Faith,
featuring Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood and Ginger Baker, debuted in
London's Hyde Park in front of 100,000 fans.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Faith>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
eat someone's lunch:
(idiomatic, chiefly US, slang) To best or defeat someone thoroughly; to
make short work of.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eat_someone%27s_lunch>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
As we reflect on the sacrifices made on D-Day, we are reminded
that freedom is not free and it has never been guaranteed. Every
generation has to earn it, fight for it, and defend it in the battle
between autocracy and democracy — between the greed of a few and the
rights of many. Eighty years after our Nation’s brave Airmen, Coast
Guardsmen, Sailors, Soldiers, and Marines embarked on D-Day — and as
Americans everywhere answered the call to prayer and filled their hearts
and homes with hope — may we honor the faith they kept in our Nation
and their legacy by upholding the future that they died for — one
grounded in freedom, democracy, opportunity, and equality for all.
--Joe Biden
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joe_Biden>
Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven
Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set in 1944 in France during
World War II, it follows a group of soldiers, led by Captain John
Miller (Tom Hanks), on their mission to locate Private James Francis
Ryan (Matt Damon), who is to be brought home after his three brothers
are killed in action. Inspired by the books of Stephen E. Ambrose and
accounts of the deaths of members of a single family such as the Niland
brothers, Rodat drafted the script and Paramount Pictures hired him to
finish the writing. Spielberg wanted to make Saving Private Ryan as
authentic as possible, and hired Frank Darabont and Scott Frank to
perform uncredited rewrites based on research and interviews with
veterans. The cast went through a week-long boot camp to understand the
soldier experience. Filming took place from June to September 1997 in
England and Ireland. Saving Private Ryan earned critical acclaim for its
graphic portrayal of combat.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saving_Private_Ryan>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1749:
A plot by Muslim slaves in Malta to assassinate Manuel Pinto da
Fonseca of the Knights Hospitaller was uncovered.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1749_Muslim_slave_revolt_plot_in_Malta>
1813:
War of 1812: The British ambushed an American encampment near
present-day Stoney Creek, Ontario, capturing two senior officers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stoney_Creek>
1912:
The largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century began,
forming the volcano Novarupta in the Alaska Peninsula.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novarupta>
1944:
World War II: Operation Overlord, the largest amphibious
military operation in history, began with Allied troops landing on the
beaches of Normandy in France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
nuzzle:
1. (transitive)
2. To push or thrust (the nose or snout, face or muzzle, or head, or an
object) against or into something.
3. To rub or touch (someone or something) with the nose, face, etc., or
an object.
4. Chiefly of an animal: to dig (something, especially food) out of the
ground using the nose or snout; to root.
5. (intransitive)
6. Often followed by in or into: to press or push the nose or snout,
mouth, face, etc., against or into someone or something; to touch
someone or something with the nose or snout, etc.
7. Chiefly of an animal: to push the nose or snout into the ground to
dig for something, especially food; to root, to rootle.
8. Followed by down: to settle or lie comfortably and snugly in a bed,
nest, etc.; to nestle.
9. Chiefly followed by up or with: to press affectionately against
someone or something; to nestle, to snuggle.
10. (figurative) To come into close contact with someone or something.
11. (obsolete, rare) To feel or probe with the fingers.
12. An act of nuzzling (all verb senses). [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nuzzle>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!
You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have
striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes
and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In
company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you
will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the
elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and
security for ourselves in a free world. Your task will not be an easy
one.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower>
The double sovereign is a gold coin of the United Kingdom with a nominal
value of two pounds sterling (£2). It features the reigning monarch on
its obverse and, most often, Benedetto Pistrucci's depiction of Saint
George and the Dragon on the reverse (pictured). It was rarely issued in
the first century and a half after its debut in 1820, usually in a new
monarch's coronation year or to mark the institution of a new coinage
portrait of the monarch. In addition to the usual coinage in Britain,
specimens were struck at Australia's Sydney Mint in 1887 and 1902. Most
often struck as a proof coin, the double sovereign has been issued for
circulation in only four years, and few examples worn from commercial
use are known. It is now a collector and bullion coin, and has been
struck by the Royal Mint most years since 1980. In some years, it has
not been issued and the Royal Mint instead placed gold versions of the
commemorative £2 piece in the annual gold proof sets.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_sovereign>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1899:
Antonio Luna, Commanding General of the Philippine Army, was
assassinated in the midst of the Philippine–American War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Luna>
1997:
Anticipating a coup attempt, President Pascal Lissouba of the
Republic of the Congo ordered the detainment of his rival Denis Sassou
Nguesso, initiating a second civil war.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_the_Congo_Civil_War_%281997%E2%80…>
2004:
Noël Mamère, the mayor of Bègles, conducted a marriage
ceremony for two men, even though same-sex marriage in France had not
yet been legalised.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_France>
2009:
After almost two months of civil disobedience, at least 31
people were killed in clashes between the National Police and indigenous
people in Bagua Province, Peru.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Peruvian_political_crisis>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
greenhouse gas:
Any gas (such as carbon dioxide, a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), or methane)
that contributes to the greenhouse effect when released into the
atmosphere by absorbing infrared radiation emitted by a planet's
surface, thus increasing the surface temperature.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/greenhouse_gas>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The old saying holds. Owe your banker £1000 and you are at his
mercy; owe him £1 million and the position is reversed.
--John Maynard Keynes
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Maynard_Keynes>
550 Madison Avenue is a postmodern skyscraper on Madison Avenue between
55th Street and 56th Street in New York City. Designed by Philip Johnson
and John Burgee with associate architect Simmons Architects, the
building was completed in 1984. It is a 647-foot-tall (197-meter),
37-story office tower with a facade made of pink granite. It was
originally the headquarters of AT&T; Corp., which relocated from 195
Broadway, the company's previous headquarters. Following the breakup of
the Bell System in 1982, AT&T; spun off subsidiary corporations and
never occupied the entire building as it had originally intended. The
building later became the American headquarters of Sony. An annex to the
west was demolished and replaced in the early 2020s. Opinion of the
building has been mixed ever since its design was first announced in
March 1978. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
designated the building's exterior as a landmark in 2018.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/550_Madison_Avenue>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1944:
World War II: A United States Navy task group captured German
submarine U-505 (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-505>
1974:
Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians hosted Ten Cent Beer
Night, but had to forfeit the game to the Texas Rangers due to rioting
by drunken fans.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Cent_Beer_Night>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tankman:
(military) The (male) operator of a military tank.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tankman>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles. Have no
friends not equal to yourself. When you have faults, do not fear to
abandon them.
--Confucius
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Confucius>
The Donner Party was a group of American pioneers who set out for
California in a wagon train, but became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada
mountains in November 1846. Running out of food, some resorted to
cannibalism to survive. The journey west usually took between four and
six months, but the Donner Party had been slowed by following a new
route called the Hastings Cutoff, which crossed the Rocky Mountains'
Wasatch Range and the Great Salt Lake Desert in present-day Utah. They
lost many cattle and wagons in the rugged terrain, and divisions formed
within the group. Their food supplies ran low after they became trapped
by an early, heavy snowfall high in the mountains. In mid-December some
of the group set out on foot and were able to obtain help. Of the 87
members of the party, 48 survived to reach California. Historians have
described the episode as one of the most spectacular tragedies in
California history.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donner_Party>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1892:
Liverpool F.C., one of England's most successful football
clubs, was founded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_F.C.>
1937:
Half a year after abdicating the British throne, Edward, Duke
of Windsor, married American socialite Wallis Simpson in a private
ceremony in France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallis_Simpson>
1969:
During a SEATO exercise in the South China Sea, a collision
between HMAS Melbourne and USS Frank E. Evans resulted in the latter
vessel being cut in two and the deaths of 74 personnel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Frank_E._Evans>
1982:
A failed assassination attempt was made on Shlomo Argov, the
Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, which event was later used as
justification for the First Lebanon War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shlomo_Argov>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tandem:
1. One behind the other; in single file.
2. (figurative) In close collaboration; collaboratively, cooperatively.
3. (countable) A carriage pulled by two or more draught animals
(generally draught horses) harnessed one behind the other, both
providing pulling power but only the animal in front being able to
steer.
4. (by extension, countable)
5. Two draught animals (generally draught horses) harnessed one behind
the other.
6. A thing with two components arranged one behind the other.
7. (specifically, cycling) Short for tandem bicycle (“a bicycle or
tricycle in which two people sit one behind the other, both able to
pedal but only the person in front being able to steer”).
8. (medicine) A hollow metal tube containing radioactive material,
inserted through the vagina into the uterus to treat gynecological
cancer.
9. (figurative)
10. (countable) A group of two or more machines, people, etc., working
together; hence (uncountable), close collaboration.
11. (uncountable, education) A method of language learning based on
mutual exchange, where ideally each learner is a native speaker in the
language the other person wants to learn. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tandem>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Manners are the shadows of virtues; the momentary display of
those qualities which our fellow creatures love, and respect.
--Sydney Smith
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sydney_Smith>
John Richard Clark Hall (1855–1931) was a British scholar of Old
English, and a barrister. Hall's A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary
(pictured) became a widely used work upon its 1894 publication, and
after multiple revisions remains in print. His 1901 prose translation of
Beowulf was still the canonical introduction to the poem into the 1960s;
some later editions included a prefatory essay by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Hall's other work on Beowulf included a metrical translation in 1914,
and the translation and collection of Knut Stjerna's Swedish papers on
the poem in the 1912 work Essays on Questions Connected with the Old
English Poem of Beowulf. In the final decade of his life, Hall's
writings took to a Christian theme. The Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge published two of his works in this time: Herbert Tingle, and
Especially his Boyhood, and Birth-Control and Self-Control. Hall worked
as a clerk at the Local Government Board in Whitehall, becoming
principal clerk in 1898.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Richard_Clark_Hall>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1919:
First Red Scare: The anarchist followers of Luigi Galleani set
off eight bombs in eight cities across the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1919_United_States_anarchist_bombings>
1953:
Queen Elizabeth II was crowned at Westminster Abbey in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_of_Elizabeth_II>
1994:
The Royal Air Force suffered a significant peacetime disaster
when a Chinook helicopter crashed on the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland,
killing all 29 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Mull_of_Kintyre_Chinook_crash>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
snottite:
(bacteriology) A colony of single-celled extremophilic bacteria that
hangs in a sheet (having the consistency of snot or nasal mucus) from
the ceilings of some caves like stalactites.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/snottite>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A man should be only partially before his time — to be
completely to the vanward in aspirations is fatal to fame. Had Philip's
warlike son been intellectually so far ahead as to have attempted
civilization without bloodshed, he would have been twice the godlike
hero that he seemed, but nobody would have heard of an Alexander.
--Thomas Hardy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Hardy>
Ludwigsburg Palace is a 452-room complex of 18 buildings in Ludwigsburg,
Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the largest palatial estate in the
country and has been called the "Versailles of Swabia". Eberhard Louis,
Duke of Württemberg, began construction of the palace in 1704. Charles
Eugene, the son of his successor, completed it and refurbished parts in
the Rococo style, especially its theatre. Charles Eugene abandoned the
palace in 1775, and it began a decline until Frederick, the future duke,
moved into the palace in 1795. As King of Württemberg, Frederick and
his wife Queen Charlotte renovated the entirety of the palace in the
Neoclassical style. The palace was opened to the public in 1918. It
underwent periods of restoration, including for its tercentenary in
2004. It has hosted the Ludwigsburg Festival annually since 1947. The
palace is surrounded by gardens named Blooming Baroque (Blühendes
Barock), laid out in 1954 as they might have appeared in 1800.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwigsburg_Palace>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1857:
The Revolution of the Ganhadores, the first general strike in
Brazil, began in Salvador, Bahia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_of_the_Ganhadores>
1974:
In an informal article in a medical journal, Henry Heimlich
introduced the concept of abdominal thrusts, commonly known as the
Heimlich maneuver, to treat victims of choking.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Heimlich>
1988:
Group representation constituencies were introduced to the
parliament of Singapore.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_representation_constituency>
1999:
On landing at Little Rock National Airport in the U.S. state of
Arkansas, American Airlines Flight 1420 overran the runway and crashed
(wreckage pictured), resulting in 11 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_1420>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
baby's tears:
Any of various plants having parts (such as leaves or spots on leaves,
petals, etc.) resembling teardrops; specifically, angel's tears
(Soleirolia soleirolii), a plant in the nettle family grown as a green,
mossy ground cover.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/baby%27s_tears>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Once the expenditure of effort exceeds the value of the
political object, the object must be renounced and peace must follow.
We see then that if one side cannot completely disarm the other, the
desire for peace on either side will rise and fall with the probability
of further successes and the amount of effort these would require. …
If the incentive grows on one side, it should diminish on the other.
Peace will result so long as their sum total is sufficient — though
the side that feels the lesser urge for peace will naturally get the
better bargain.
--Carl von Clausewitz
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_von_Clausewitz>