The Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France is dedicated to the memory
of Canadian Expeditionary Force members and other Canadians killed
during the First World War. Designed by Walter Seymour Allward, the
monument is the centrepiece of a 100-hectare (250-acre) battlefield
park, overlapping the site of the Battle of Vimy Ridge offensive (9
April 1917) that began the Battle of Arras. In that offensive, all four
divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force participated as a cohesive
battle formation for the first time, and it became a Canadian national
symbol of achievement and sacrifice. France ceded the land to Canada for
its memorial. Wartime tunnels, trenches, craters, and unexploded
munitions still honeycomb the grounds, which are largely closed off for
public safety. Preserved trench lines and several other memorials and
cemeteries are contained within the park. King Edward VIII unveiled it
in July 1936, and Queen Elizabeth II re-dedicated the restored monument
on the 90th anniversary of the offensive. The site, one of only two
National Historic Sites of Canada outside the country, is maintained by
Veterans Affairs Canada.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_National_Vimy_Memorial>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1860:
On his phonautograph machine, Édouard-Léon Scott de
Martinville made the oldest known recording of an audible human voice,
when he recorded himself singing "Au clair de la lune" (audio featured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard-L%C3%A9on_Scott_de_Martinville>
1917:
First World War: The Canadian Corps began the first wave of
attacks at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in Vimy, France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vimy_Ridge>
1947:
Sixteen white and black men began a two-week journey in the
American South, acting in defiance of local laws that enforced
segregated seating on public buses.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_of_Reconciliation>
1967:
The first Boeing 737 took its maiden flight, eventually
becoming the most ordered and produced commercial passenger jet airliner
in the world.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737>
2005:
Charles, Prince of Wales, married his long-time mistress
Camilla Parker Bowles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_of_Charles,_Prince_of_Wales,_and_Camilla_Parker_Bowles>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
lovingkindness:
(archaic, uncountable) Kindness or mercy which is based on, or arises
from, love; (countable) an act of such kindness or mercy.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lovingkindness>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is in the word, in the logos, something sacred which forbids
us to gamble with it. To handle a language skilfully is to practice a
kind of evocative sorcery.
--Charles Baudelaire
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Baudelaire>