H. C. McNeile MC (1888–1937) was a British soldier and author best
known for his series of Bulldog Drummond novels. McNeile started writing
short war stories during the First World War; when these were published
in the Daily Mail, they were under his penname, Sapper, which was based
on that of his regiment, the Royal Engineers. After the war he left the
Army and became a full-time writer, changing from writing war stories to
thrillers, and from writing short stories to move increasingly to
novels. In 1920 he published Bulldog Drummond, whose hero became his
best-known creation: nine further Drummond novels followed, as did three
plays and a screenplay. McNeile also wrote works that included two other
protagonists, Jim Maitland and Ronald Standish, and sales of his books
ensured he was one of the most successful British popular authors of the
inter-war period before his death in 1937 from throat cancer, which has
been attributed to damage sustained from a gas attack in the war.
Although seen by his contemporaries as an "upstanding Tory", his work
came under criticism after the Second World War for its fascist
overtones, xenophobia and anti-semitism.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._C._McNeile>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1066:
William the Conqueror and his fleet of around 600 ships landed
at Pevensey, Sussex, beginning the Norman conquest of England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_conquest_of_England>
1891:
Railway workers in Montevideo founded the Central Uruguay
Railway Cricket Club, which later changed its name to Peñarol, now
Uruguay's most successful football club.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pe%C3%B1arol>
1928:
Scottish biologist and pharmacologist Alexander Fleming
discovered penicillin when he noticed a bacteria-killing mould growing
in his laboratory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicillin>
1995:
Over 30 mercenaries led by Bob Denard landed on the Comoros in
an attempted coup, his fourth one on the African island nation since
1975.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Denard>
2008:
SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket achieved orbit on its fourth attempt
to become the first successful liquid-propelled orbital launch vehicle
developed with private funding.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_1>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
meadery:
A place where mead is made.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meadery>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
義 He who attains to sincerity is he who chooses what is good,
and firmly holds it fast. To this attainment there are requisite the
extensive study of what is good, accurate inquiry about it, careful
reflection on it, the clear discrimination of it, and the earnest
practice of it. 儒家
--Confucius
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Confucius>