Donald Forrester Brown (23 February 1890 – 1 October 1916) was a New Zealand recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for valour in the face of the enemy that could be awarded at that time to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. Born in Dunedin, Brown was a farmer when the First World War began. In late 1915, he volunteered for service abroad with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) and was posted to the 2nd Battalion, the Otago Infantry Regiment. Fighting on the Western Front, he performed the actions that led to the award of the Victoria Cross in September 1916 during the Battle of Flers–Courcelette, part of the Somme offensive. As he was killed several days later during the Battle of Le Transloy, the award was made posthumously. His Victoria Cross was the second to be awarded to a soldier serving with the NZEF during the war and was the first earned in an action on the Western Front.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1854:

The Orange River Convention was signed in Bloemfontein, with the United Kingdom agreeing to recognise the independence of the Orange Free State in present-day South Africa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_River_Convention

1886:

American inventor Charles Martin Hall discovered an inexpensive method of producing aluminium. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Martin_Hall

1987:

SN 1987A, the first supernova that modern astronomers were able to study in great detail, was observed from Earth occurring in the Large Magellanic Cloud. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1987A

2021:

Riots in four Ecuadorian prisons, caused by gang rivalries, resulted in the deaths of 79 inmates. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2021_Ecuadorian_prison_riots

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

wamble-cropped: 1. Nauseated; also, feeling sick or unsettled in the stomach. 2. (figurative) Feeling uneasy; anxious, worried. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wamble-cropped

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The Greek word for philosopher (philosophos) connotes a distinction from sophos. It signifies the lover of wisdom (knowledge) as distinguished from him who considers himself wise in the possession of knowledge. This meaning of the word still endures: the essence of philosophy is not the possession of the truth but the search for truth. … Philosophy means to be on the way. Its questions are more essential than its answers, and every answer becomes a new question.   --Karl Jaspers https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Jaspers