Kosta Pećanac (1879–1944) was a Serbian Chetnik commander during both
of the Balkan Wars, World War I, and World War II. Pećanac (pictured,
second from left) fought on the Serbian side in the Balkan Wars and
World War I, joining the Toplica uprising of 1917. After the war he was
an important leader of Chetnik veteran associations, known for his
strong hostility to the Yugoslav Communist Party, which made him popular
with conservatives. As president of the Chetnik Association, he
transformed the association during the 1930s into an aggressively
partisan Serb political organisation with over half a million members.
During World War II, Pećanac collaborated with the German military
administration and with their Serbian puppet government in the Territory
of the Military Commander in Serbia. In July 1942, rival Chetnik leader
Draža Mihailović arranged for the Yugoslav government-in-exile to
denounce Pećanac as a traitor, and his continuing collaboration with
the Germans ruined what remained of the reputation he had developed in
the Balkan Wars and World War I. By March 1943, the Germans saw
Pećanac's Chetniks as inefficient and unreliable, and disbanded them.
He was interned, then killed in May or June 1944 by agents of
Mihailović.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosta_Pe%C4%87anac>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
553:
The Second Council of Constantinople, considered by many
Christian churches to have been the fifth Christian Ecumenical Council,
began to discuss the topics of Nestorianism and Origenism, among others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Council_of_Constantinople>
1860:
Led by Italian general Giuseppe Garibaldi, the volunteer
Expedition of the Thousand set sail from Genoa on a campaign to conquer
the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedition_of_the_Thousand>
1891:
New York City's Carnegie Hall (interior pictured), built by
philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, officially opened with a concert
conducted by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Hall>
1940:
World War II: A squad of 250 Norwegian volunteers in Hegra
Fortress finally surrendered to a vastly superior Nazi force after a
25-day siege.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hegra_Fortress>
1991:
Rioting broke out in Washington, D.C., after a rookie police
officer shot a Salvadorean man in the chest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Washington,_D.C._riot>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
Stakhanovite:
An extremely productive or hard-working worker, especially in the former
USSR, who may earn special rewards; a workaholic.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Stakhanovite>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Contrary to what the politicians and religious leaders would
like us to believe, the world won’t be made safer by creating barriers
between people. Cries of “They’re evil, let’s get ‘em” or
“The infidels must die” sound frightening, but they’re desperately
empty of argument and understanding. They’re the rallying cries of
prejudice, the call to arms of those who find it easier to hate than
admit they might be not be right about everything. Armageddon is not
around the corner. This is only what the people of violence want us to
believe. The complexity and diversity of the world is the hope for the
future.
--Michael Palin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Palin>