Hovhannes Bagramyan was a Soviet Armenian military commander and
Marshal of the Soviet Union. During World War II, Bagramyan became the
first non-Slavic military officer to become a commander of a Front.
Bagramyan's previous experience in military planning as a chief of
staff officer allowed him to distinguish himself as a capable
commander during the war in the early stages of the Soviet
counter-offensives against Nazi Germany. He was given his first
command of a unit in 1942 and in November 1943, received his most
prestigious command as the head of the First Baltic Front. As head of
the Baltic Front, he participated in the offensives which moved
westwards to push German forces out of the occupied Soviet Union and
the recapturing of the Baltic republics. After the war, he served as a
deputy member of the Supreme Soviets of the Latvian Soviet Socialist
Republic and Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic and was a regular
attendant of the Party Congresses. In 1952, he became a candidate for
entry into the Central Committee and, in 1961, was inducted as a full
member. For his contributions during the war, he was widely regarded
as a national hero in the Soviet Union, and continues to hold such
esteemed status among many Armenians today.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hovhannes_Bagramyan
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1671:
Thomas Blood was caught trying to steal the British Crown Jewels from
the Tower of London.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Blood)
1901:
The first Parliament of Australia opened in the Royal Exhibition
Building in Melbourne.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_Australia)
1945:
End of World War II in Europe: The signing of a second German
Instrument of Surrender by General Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel,
specifying the capitulation of the Wehrmacht to the Soviet Red Army,
was announced.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Instrument_of_Surrender)
1946:
King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicated.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Emmanuel_III_of_Italy)
1950:
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health by L. Ron Hubbard, the
founder of Scientology and Dianetics, was first published.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics:_The_Modern_Science_of_Mental_Health)
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Wikiquote of the day:
Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is
also believed by many others. They just don't dare express themselves
as we did. -- Sophie Scholl of the White Rose
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sophie_Scholl)