William Brill (17 May 1916 – 12 October 1964) was a senior officer and bomber pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Born in the Riverina district of New South Wales, he was a farmer before joining the RAAF in 1940. Posted to Britain to take part in the air war over Europe, Brill first saw combat with No. 460 Squadron RAAF, flying Vickers Wellingtons. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in 1942 for attacking a target after his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire. In 1944 he became a flight commander in No. 463 Squadron RAAF, flying Avro Lancasters. Brill's leadership and determination to complete his missions despite damage to his aircraft—on one occasion inflicted by another Lancaster's bombs—earned him the Distinguished Service Order. Promoted to wing commander, he took over No. 467 Squadron RAAF and was awarded a bar to his DFC for his skill in evading night fighters. Returning to Australia after the war, he led No. 10 Squadron, commanded air bases, and was twice RAAF Director of Personnel Services, gaining promotion to group captain. He was serving at the Department of Air when he died of a heart attack in 1964.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1642:

The Société Notre-Dame de Montréal founded a permanent mission known as Ville-Marie, which eventually grew into the city of Montreal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal

1863:

Rosalía de Castro published Cantares gallegos, a collection of her poetry, the first book in the Galician language. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosal%C3%ADa_de_Castro

1902:

The Antikythera mechanism, the oldest known surviving geared mechanism, was discovered among artifacts retrieved from a shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism

1954:

The US Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education, outlawing racial segregation in public schools because "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education

2009:

Dalia Grybauskaitė was elected the first female President of Lithuania, receiving 68.18% of the vote. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalia_Grybauskait%C4%97

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

cement: 1. (transitive) To affix with cement. 2. (transitive) To overlay or coat with cement. 3. (transitive, figuratively) To unite firmly or closely. 4. (figuratively) To make permanent. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cement

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Who shall compose the Bible of human desire, the terrible and simple Bible of that which drives us from life to life, the Bible of our doings, our goings, our original fall? Who will dare to tell everything, who will have the genius to see everything? I believe in a lofty form of poetry, in the work in which beauty will be mingled with beliefs. The more incapable of it I feel myself, the more I believe it to be possible. The sad splendour with which certain memories of mine overwhelm me, shows me that it is possible. Sometimes I myself have been sublime, I myself have been a masterpiece. Sometimes my visions have been mingled with a thrill of evidence so strong and so creative that the whole room has quivered with it like a forest, and there have been moments, in truth, when the silence cried out.   --Henri Barbusse https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henri_Barbusse