Charles Eaton (1895–1979) was a senior officer and pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and later a diplomat. Born in London, he joined the British Army in World War I and saw action on the Western Front before transferring to the Royal Flying Corps in 1917. Shot down in 1918, he was twice captured by German forces, and twice escaped. Eaton left the military in 1920 and worked in India until moving to Australia in 1923. Two years later he joined the RAAF, serving initially as an instructor. Between 1929 and 1931, he was chosen to lead three expeditions to search for lost aircraft in central Australia, which earned him national attention and the Air Force Cross. In 1939, Eaton became commanding officer of No. 12 Squadron at the newly established RAAF Station Darwin, Northern Territory. Promoted group captain, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1942. He took command of No. 79 Wing at Batchelor, Northern Territory, in 1943, and was mentioned in despatches during operations in the South West Pacific. Retiring from the RAAF in December 1945, Eaton took up diplomatic posts in the Dutch East Indies, heading a United Nations commission as Consul- General during the Indonesian National Revolution. He returned to Australia in 1950, and became a farmer in later life. Popularly known as "Moth" Eaton, he is commemorated by several memorials in the Northern Territory.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Eaton_(RAAF_officer)

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1587:

Anglo-Spanish War: In the Bay of Cádiz, Francis Drake led the first of several naval raids on the Spanish Armada that destroyed so many ships that Philip II of Spain had to delay his plans to invade England for over a year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singeing_the_King_of_Spain%27s_Beard

1770:

British explorer James Cook and the crew of HMS Endeavour (replica pictured), the first European ship to land in eastern Australia, reached the coast of Botany Bay near present-day Sydney. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Endeavour

1903:

A 30 million cubic-metre landslide buried the town of Frank, Alberta and killed 70 of the town's 90 residents, making it the deadliest landslide in Canadian history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Slide

1910:

The Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the People's Budget, the first budget in British history with the expressed intent of redistributing wealth among the British public. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Budget

1946:

The International Military Tribunal for the Far East convened and indicted Hideki Tojo and 27 other Japanese leaders for war crimes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Military_Tribunal_for_the_Far_East

1968:

The controversial musical Hair, a product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, opened at the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway, with its songs becoming anthems of the anti-Vietnam War movement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_(musical)

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

anapest: 1. (US, prosody) A metrical foot consisting of three syllables, two short and one long (e.g the word "velveteen"). 2. (US, prosody) A fragment, phrase or line of poetry or verse using this meter; e.g. “Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did NOT!” (Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anapest

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

It is by logic that we prove, but by intuition that we discover. To know how to criticize is good, to know how to create is better.   --Henri Poincaré https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henri_Poincar%C3%A9