Aeneas Mackintosh (1879–1916) was a British Antarctic explorer who
commanded the Ross Sea party within Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial
Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914–17. The party's mission was to
support Shackleton's proposed transcontinental march by laying supply
depots along the latter stages of the march's intended route. Confusing
orders meant Mackintosh was uncertain of the timing of Shackleton's
proposed march. Matters worsened when the Ross Sea party's ship, SY
Aurora, was swept from its moorings during a gale, taking away much of
the party's supplies and equipment. Despite these setbacks and further
practical difficulties, Mackintosh's stranded party managed to carry out
its depot-laying task to the full. Having reached safety, he and a
companion lost their lives while attempting to return to the
expedition's base camp by walking across unstable sea ice. Shackleton
later commended the work of Mackintosh and his comrades, and equated the
sacrifice of their lives to those given in the trenches during the First
World War. However, his competence and leadership skills have been
questioned by some polar historians.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeneas_Mackintosh>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1757:
British Royal Navy Admiral John Byng was court-martialled and
executed by firing squad when he failed to "do his utmost" during the
Battle of Minorca at the start of the Seven Years' War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Byng>
1885:
The Mikado, Gilbert and Sullivan's most frequently performed
Savoy opera, debuted at the Savoy Theatre in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mikado>
1910:
Oil prospectors in Kern County, California, drilled into a
pressurized oil deposit, resulting in the largest accidental oil spill
in history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakeview_Gusher>
1945:
The British Royal Air Force first used the Grand Slam, a 22,000
lb (9.98 t) earthquake bomb, on a strategic railroad viaduct in
Bielefeld, Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Slam_(bomb)>
1988:
China defeated Vietnam in a naval battle as the former
attempted to establish oceanographic observation posts on the Spratly
Islands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_South_Reef_Skirmish>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
annis Domini:
(of multiple years or of a date range) Taking place a specifed number of
years following the assumed birth of Jesus Christ.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/annis_Domini>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Sweet and gentle and sensitive man With an obsessive nature and
deep fascination For numbers And a complete infatuation with the
calculation Of π.
--Kate Bush
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kate_Bush>