Amir Hamzah (1911–1946) was an Indonesian poet and national hero. Born into an aristocratic Malay family in the Sultanate of Langkat, Sumatra, he began writing poetry while still a teenager. Though his works are undated, the earliest are from around 1930, when he first travelled to Java for schooling. He continued writing while studying in Surakarta and Batavia. He helped establish the literary magazine Poedjangga Baroe in 1932, and published his two poetry collections in it, Nyanyi Sunyi (1937) and Buah Rindu (1941). Amir stopped writing in 1937, when he grudgingly returned to Sumatra to marry the sultan's daughter and take on responsibilities of the court. After Indonesia proclaimed its independence in 1945, he served as the government's representative in Langkat; the following year he was killed in a socialist revolution and buried in a mass grave. His poetry deals with themes of love and religion, and often reflects a deep inner conflict. He has been called the "King of the Poedjangga Baroe-era Poets" and the only international- class Indonesian poet from before the Indonesian National Revolution.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amir_Hamzah
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1602:
The Dutch East India Company—the first company to issue stock, one of the first multinational corporations, and possibly the first megacorporation—was established. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company
1760:
A fire of unknown cause broke out in Boston, Massachusetts, destroying 349 buildings and left over a thousand people homeless. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Boston_Fire_of_1760
1942:
World War II: After being forced to flee the Philippines, US Army General Douglas MacArthur announced in Terowie, South Australia, "I shall return." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_MacArthur
1987:
The antiretroviral drug zidovudine (AZT) became the first antiviral drug approved for use against HIV and AIDS. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zidovudine
2006:
Cyclone Larry made landfall in Far North Queensland, eventually causing nearly AU$1 billion in total damage and destroying over 80 percent of Australia's banana crop. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Larry
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
paradoxical frog: Pseudis paradoxa, a species of frog unusual because it is larger as a tadpole (up to 25 cm or 10 in long) than as an adult (about a quarter of that length). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/paradoxical_frog
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. --Jesus https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jesus