Lê Quang Tung (1923–63) was the commander of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces under the command of Ngô Đình Nhu, brother of South Vietnam's president, Ngô Đình Diệm. During the 1950s, Tung was a high-ranking official in Nhu's Cần Lao, a secret political apparatus which maintained the Ngô family's grip on power. Appointed as commander of the special forces in 1960, his leadership was noted more for repressing dissidents than fighting the Viet Cong insurgents. His most well-known attack was the raid on Xá Lợi pagoda in August 1963 in which hundreds died or disappeared. Tung's main military programme was a scheme in which army personnel attempted to infiltrate North Vietnam for intelligence gathering and sabotage. The program was ineffective, with the vast majority of infiltrators being killed or captured. Tung was also reported to be planning an assassination attempt on Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., the U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam. Following the pagoda raids, America terminated funding to Tung's men because they were used as a political tool rather than against the communists. Along with Diệm and Nhu, Tung was assassinated during the November 1963 coup.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Quang_Tung

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1793:

Marie Antoinette (pictured), queen consort of Louis XVI, was guillotined at the Place de la Révolution in Paris at the height of the French Revolution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Antoinette

1869:

Girton College, one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge and England's first residential college for women, was founded. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girton_College,_Cambridge

1951:

The first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, was assassinated in Rawalpindi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liaquat_Ali_Khan

1968:

To protest racism in the United States, African American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos performed the Black Power salute during a medal ceremony at the Mexico City Summer Olympics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Olympics_Black_Power_salute

1975:

Five journalists for Australian television networks based in the town of Balibo were killed by Indonesian special force soldiers prior to their invasion of East Timor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balibo_Five

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

sparge: 1. To sprinkle or spray 2. To introduce bubbles into a liquid. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sparge

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

None of us can help the things life has done to us. They're done before you realize it, and once they're done they make you do other things until at last everything comes between you and what you'd like to be, and you've lost your true self forever.   --Eugene O'Neill https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eugene_O%27Neill