Sudirman (1916–50) was a high-ranking military officer during the
Indonesian National Revolution. The first commander-in-chief of the
Indonesian Armed Forces, he was declared a National Hero in 1964. A
teacher when the Japanese occupied the Indies in 1942, he joined the
Japanese-sponsored Defenders of the Homeland and oversaw the Japanese
surrender in Banyumas after Indonesia proclaimed its independence.
Elected commander-in-chief in November 1945, he ordered an assault on
British and Dutch forces at Ambarawa, strengthening his popular support.
During the next three years negotiations with the Dutch failed and in
December 1948 the Dutch tried to capture Yogyakarta, the republican
capital. While the political leadership sheltered, Sudirman led a small
group of soldiers in a seven-month guerrilla campaign. When the Dutch
began withdrawing, he wanted to continue fighting them but was
forbidden. Sudirman retired because of illness and died soon after the
Dutch recognised Indonesia's independence. His guerrilla campaign has
been credited with developing the army's esprit de corps, and the
100-kilometre (62 mi) long route he took must be followed by Indonesian
cadets before graduation.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudirman>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
41:
Cassius Chaerea and the disgruntled Praetorian Guards murdered
Roman emperor Caligula (bust pictured), replacing him with his uncle
Claudius.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula>
1857:
The University of Calcutta, the first modern university in the
Indian subcontinent, was established in Calcutta.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Calcutta>
1900:
Second Boer War: Boer forces stopped a British attempt to break
the Siege of Ladysmith in the Battle of Spion Kop.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Spion_Kop>
1968:
Vietnam War: The 1st Australian Task Force launched Operation
Coburg against the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong during wider
fighting around Long Binh and Bien Hoa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Coburg>
2009:
Klaus, the most damaging storm since Lothar and Martin in
December 1999, made landfall near Bordeaux, France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Klaus>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
alicorn:
(now historical) The horn of a unicorn considered as a medical or
pharmacological ingredient.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/alicorn>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one
can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is
unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in
big things, and happy in small ways.
--Edith Wharton
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edith_Wharton>