Harry McNish (1874–1930) was the carpenter on Sir Ernest Shackleton's
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914 to 1917. At 40, he was one
of the oldest members of the crew and was regarded as somewhat odd and
unrefined, but was highly respected as a carpenter. He was responsible
for much of the work that ensured the crew's survival after their ship,
the Endurance, was destroyed when it became trapped in pack ice in the
Weddell Sea. He modified the small boat, James Caird, that allowed
Shackleton and five men (including McNish) to make a voyage of hundreds
of miles to fetch help for the rest of the crew. He briefly refused to
follow orders on the crew's long trek pulling the boats across the pack
ice, and, despite his efforts during the journey, was one of only four
of the crew not to receive the Polar Medal. After the expedition he
returned to work in the Merchant Navy and eventually emigrated to New
Zealand, where he worked on the docks in Wellington until ill-health
forced his retirement. He died destitute in the Ohiro Benevolent Home in
Wellington. McNish Island, which lies in the approaches to King Haakon
Bay, South Georgia, was named in his honour.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_McNish>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1775:
American Revolutionary War: Benedict Arnold's expedition
departed from Cambridge, Massachusetts as part of the invasion of
Quebec.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_Arnold%27s_expedition_to_Quebec>
1897:
Gaki Sherocho was captured by the forces of Emperor of Ethiopia
Menelik II, bringing an end to the Kingdom of Kaffa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Kaffa>
1945:
The Japanese-run camp at Batu Lintang, Sarawak, in Borneo was
liberated by the Australian 9th Division, averting the planned massacre
of its 2,000-plus Allied POWs and civilian internees by four days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batu_Lintang_camp>
1965:
Indo-Pakistani War: Indian infantry captured the town of Burki
near Lahore, Pakistan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Burki>
2001:
Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger airliners for a
series of suicide attacks against targets in New York City and the
Washington, D.C., area.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
in memoriam:
In memory (of); as a memorial.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/in_memoriam>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The magnificent here and now of life in the flesh is ours, and
ours alone, and ours only for a time. We ought to dance with rapture
that we should be alive and in the flesh, and part of the living,
incarnate cosmos. I am part of the sun as my eye is part of me. That I
am part of the earth my feet know perfectly, and my blood is part of the
sea. My soul knows that I am part of the human race, my soul is an
organic part of the great human soul, as my spirit is part of my nation.
In my own very self, I am part of my family. There is nothing of me that
is alone and absolute except my mind, and we shall find that the mind
has no existence by itself, it is only the glitter of the sun on the
surface of the waters.
--D. H. Lawrence
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/D._H._Lawrence>