Haane Manahi (28 September 1913 – 29 March 1986) was a New Zealand Māori soldier who served in the Second World War with the Māori Battalion. He joined the battalion in 1939 and fought in Greece, in Crete and in North Africa. In April 1943, during the Tunisian campaign, his gallantry in an action at Takrouna resulted in a recommendation, supported by four generals, that he be awarded the Victoria Cross (VC). This was downgraded to an award of the Distinguished Conduct Medal, which disappointed many of his fellow soldiers. After his death in a car crash in 1986, representations were made for a posthumous award of the VC for his valour at Takrouna. These representations were unsuccessful but eventually resulted in a special award in 2007 of an altar cloth for use in a local church, a ceremonial sword and a personal letter from Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his gallantry.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1411:

The First Peace of Thorn was signed, ending the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian%E2%80%93Teutonic_War

1814:

More than 1,200 people died in the most destructive recorded eruption of Mayon in the Philippines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayon

1884:

The first fascicle of the Oxford English Dictionary, a 352-page volume that covered words from A to ant, was published. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary

2001:

The Timor Leste Defence Force was established from the erstwhile anti-Indonesian independence movement Falintil. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timor_Leste_Defence_Force

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

inexorable: 1. Impossible to prevent or stop; inevitable. 2. Unable to be persuaded; relentless; unrelenting. 3. Adamant; severe. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/inexorable

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

A literature that is alive does not live by yesterday's clock, nor by today's but by tomorrow's.   --Yevgeny Zamyatin https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yevgeny_Zamyatin