Iven Mackay (1882–1966) was a senior Australian Army officer who saw
action in both World Wars. He served with the 4th Infantry Battalion at
Gallipoli, distinguishing himself in hand-to-hand fighting at the Battle
of Lone Pine. On the Western Front, he assumed command of the 4th
Battalion in 1916 and led the 1st Infantry Brigade in 1918. After the
war he studied physics at the University of Cambridge under Ernest
Rutherford. He remained in the Militia between the wars, and was a major
general by the time the Second World War broke out. He commanded the 6th
Division through the Australian Army's first battles of the war. During
the Battle of Bardia in 1941, the 6th Division captured the fortified
town along with 36,000 Italian prisoners; Mackay was knighted for this
success. In the Battle of Greece, he became the only Australian general
to face the Waffen SS in battle. He was recalled to Australia in 1941,
commanding the Home Forces and New Guinea Force as a lieutenant general.
His active service ended in 1943 with his appointment as High
Commissioner to India.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iven_Mackay>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
961:
The Muslim Emirate of Crete was conquered by the Byzantine
Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirate_of_Crete>
1447:
Tomaso Parentucelli became Pope Nicholas V.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Nicholas_V>
1869:
Dmitri Mendeleev presented the first periodic table of elements
to the Russian Chemical Society.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitri_Mendeleev>
1930:
Organized by the Communist International, hundreds of thousands
of people in major cities around the world marched to protest mass
unemployment associated with the Great Depression.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Unemployment_Day>
1988:
In Operation Flavius, the British Special Air Service killed
three Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers conspiring to bomb a
parade of British military bands in Gibraltar.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Flavius>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
perquisite:
1. (mostly plural) Any monetary or other incidental benefit beyond salary.
2. A gratuity.
3. A privilege or possession held or claimed exclusively by a certain
person, group or class.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/perquisite>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Politics: a Trojan horse race.
--Stanisław Jerzy Lec
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_Jerzy_Lec>