Thomas Blamey (1884–1951) was an Australian general of the First and
Second World Wars, and the only Australian ever to attain the rank of
field marshal. He joined the Australian Army as a regular soldier in
1906, and served at Gallipoli, where he led a daring raid behind enemy
lines, and on the Western Front as chief of staff of the Australian
Corps under Lieutenant General Sir John Monash. During the Second World
War he commanded the Second Australian Imperial Force and the I Corps in
the Middle East. In 1942, he returned to Australia as Commander in Chief
of the Australian Military Forces and Commander of Allied Land Forces in
the South West Pacific Area under the command of General Douglas
MacArthur. On the orders of MacArthur and Prime Minister John Curtin, he
assumed personal command of New Guinea Force during the Kokoda Track
Campaign. He won a series of victories over the Japanese, including the
Battle of Wau and the landing at Nadzab, and signed on behalf of
Australia at Japan's ceremonial surrender in Tokyo Bay on 2 September
1945. He was promoted to field marshal in June 1950.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Blamey>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
41:
Cassius Chaerea and the disgruntled Praetorian Guards murdered
Roman emperor Caligula (bust pictured), replacing him with his uncle
Claudius.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula>
1458:
The 14-year-old Matthias Corvinus was unanimously proclaimed
King of Hungary, after the Estates were persuaded to do so by his uncle
Michael Szilágyi.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_Corvinus>
1848:
James W. Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma,
California, leading to the California Gold Rush.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Gold_Rush>
1989:
American serial killer Ted Bundy was executed via electric
chair in Florida for the homicides of at least 30 women.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Bundy>
2011:
A suicide bomber killed at least 37 people at Domodedovo
International Airport in Moscow.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domodedovo_International_Airport_bombing>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
alicorn:
(now historical) The horn of a unicorn considered as a medical or
pharmacological ingredient.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/alicorn>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I warrant you, if he danced till doomsday, he thought I was to
pay the piper.
--William Congreve
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Congreve>