Tom Eastick (3 May 1900 – 16 December 1988) was a senior Australian Army artillery officer during World War II, a post-war leader of the principal ex-service organisation in South Australia, and a justice of the peace. He commanded a field artillery regiment during the First and Second Battles of El Alamein in the Western Desert campaign in North Africa in 1942, leading to his appointment as a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order and an Efficiency Decoration award. He then commanded divisional artillery during several campaigns in New Guinea and Borneo, before being appointed military governor of the Raj of Sarawak after taking the Japanese surrender at Kuching. Post-war, he was state president of the Returned Sailors', Soldiers' and Airmen's Imperial League of Australia (the Returned & Services League from 1965) for fifteen years. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George and knighted for his volunteer work on behalf of ex-servicemen.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1893:

Czech composer Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony (audio featured) premiered at Carnegie Hall in New York City. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._9_%28Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k%29

1918:

Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas declared the formation of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, a puppet state created by Soviet Russia to justify the Lithuanian–Soviet War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_%281918%E2%80%931919%29

1971:

The surrender of East Pakistani forces in Dacca concluded the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Indo-Pakistani War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1971

2014:

A hostage crisis in a Lindt chocolate café in Sydney, Australia, ended with police storming the building, killing the perpetrator and one of the hostages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindt_Cafe_siege

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

normcore: 1. (fashion) A unisex fashion trend characterized by average-looking, unpretentious clothing. 2. (by extension, attributively) Anything mainstream or unremarkable. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/normcore

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The way of water has no beginning and no end. The sea is around you and within you. The sea is your home — before your birth, and after your death. Our hearts beat in the womb of the world, our breath burns in the shadow of the deep. The sea gives, and the sea takes. Water connects all things, life to death, darkness to light.   --Avatar: The Way of Water https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Avatar:_The_Way_of_Water