Haane Manahi (28 September 1913 – 29 March 1986) was a New
Zealand Māori soldier who served in the Second World War with the
Māori Battalion. He joined the battalion in 1939 and fought in Greece,
in Crete and in North Africa. In April 1943, during the Tunisian
campaign, his gallantry in an action at Takrouna resulted in a
recommendation, supported by four generals, that he be awarded the
Victoria Cross (VC). This was downgraded to an award of the
Distinguished Conduct Medal, which disappointed many of his fellow
soldiers. After his death in a car crash in 1986, representations were
made for a posthumous award of the VC for his valour at Takrouna. These
representations were unsuccessful but eventually resulted in a special
award in 2007 of an altar cloth for use in a local church, a ceremonial
sword and a personal letter from Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of
his gallantry.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haane_Manahi>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1411:
The First Peace of Thorn was signed, ending the
Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian%E2%80%93Teutonic_War>
1814:
More than 1,200 people died in the most destructive recorded
eruption of Mayon in the Philippines.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayon>
1884:
The first fascicle of the Oxford English Dictionary, a 352-page
volume that covered words from A to ant, was published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary>
2001:
The Timor Leste Defence Force was established from the
erstwhile anti-Indonesian independence movement Falintil.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timor_Leste_Defence_Force>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
inexorable:
1. Impossible to prevent or stop; inevitable.
2. Unable to be persuaded; relentless; unrelenting.
3. Adamant; severe.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/inexorable>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
A literature that is alive does not live by yesterday's clock,
nor by today's but by tomorrow's.
--Yevgeny Zamyatin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yevgeny_Zamyatin>