Stanley Price Weir (23 April 1866 – 14 November 1944) was a public servant and Australian Army officer. During World War I, he commanded the 10th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force during the landing at Anzac Cove and the Gallipoli campaign against the Ottoman Turks, and during the battles of Pozières and Mouquet Farm in France. Weir returned to Australia at his own request at the age of 50 in late 1916, when he was appointed as the first public service commissioner of South Australia. In 1917 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and was mentioned in despatches for his performance at Pozières and Mouquet Farm. On his retirement from the Australian Military Forces in 1921, he was given an honorary promotion to brigadier general, only the second officer born in South Australia to reach this rank. Before his retirement from public service in 1931, Weir was the chairman of both the Central Board of Health and the Public Relief Board.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Price_Weir
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1945:
World War II: The US Army's 90th Infantry Division liberated Flossenbürg concentration camp in Germany, freeing 1,500 prisoners. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flossenb%C3%BCrg_concentration_camp
1976:
The American band the Ramones released their debut album, which became highly influential on the emerging punk rock movement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramones_%28album%29
1979:
Blair Peach, a British activist, was fatally injured after being knocked unconscious during an Anti-Nazi League demonstration against a National Front election meeting in Southall, London. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Blair_Peach
2018:
A man intentionally struck pedestrians with a van on Yonge Street in Toronto, Canada, leading to 11 deaths. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Toronto_van_attack
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva: (medical genetics) A very rare, disabling genetic disorder of the connective tissue in which fibrous tissue (including ligaments, muscles, and tendons) ossifies (“transforms into bone”) when damaged. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fibrodysplasia_ossificans_progressiva
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
We are still waging Peloponnesian wars. Our control of the material world and our positive science have grown fantastically. But our very achievements turn against us, making politics more random and wars more bestial. --George Steiner https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Steiner