130px|Issy Smith

Issy Smith (1890–1940) was a British-Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to eligible forces of the Commonwealth and United Kingdom. Smith (pictured at left), the first living Jewish recipient of the Victoria Cross, was also awarded the French Croix de Guerre (with palm) and Russian Cross of St. George (4th class). Born to parents residing in Egypt, Smith travelled to Britain as a child stowaway and first volunteered to serve in the British Army in 1904. He emigrated to Australia after discharge, where he remained until mobilised as a reservist in 1914. As a corporal in the 1st Battalion, The Manchester Regiment, Smith was engaged in the Second Battle of Ypres. On 26 April 1915, Smith, on his own initiative, recovered wounded soldiers while exposed to sustained fire and attended to them "with the greatest devotion to duty regardless of personal risk". His conduct secured a recommendation for the Victoria Cross, which was awarded to Smith in August 1915. (more...)

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1769:

Having been soundly defeated in battle, the Qing Dynasty agreed to terms of truce, ending the Sino-Burmese War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Burmese_War_%281765%E2%80%931769%29

1939:

Indian Muslims observed a "Day of Deliverance" to celebrate the resignations of members of the Indian National Congress over the decision to enter World War II at the request of the United Kingdom. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_Deliverance_%28India%29

1974:

Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli voted to become the independent nation of the Comoros. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comoros

1988:

Brazilian unionist and environmental activist Chico Mendes was murdered at his Xapuri home. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chico_Mendes

2008:

An ash dike ruptured at a solid waste containment area in Roane County, Tennessee, US, releasing 1.1 billion US gallons (4,200,000 m3) of coal fly ash slurry . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_fly_ash_slurry_spill

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

Christmas is coming (phrase): Used as a reminder or warning regarding an impending deadline http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Christmas_is_coming

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

God is not, as in scholasticism, the final subject of all predicates. He is being as unpredicable. The existence of the creature, in so far as it exists, is the existence of God, and the creature’s experience of God is therefore in the final analysis equally unpredicable. Neither can even be described; both can only be indicated. We can only point at reality, our own or God’s. The soul comes to the realization of God by knowledge, not as in the older Christian mysticism by love. Love is the garment of knowledge. The soul first trains itself by systematic unknowing until at last it confronts the only reality, the only knowledge, God manifest in itself. The soul can say nothing about this experience in the sense of defining it. It can only reveal it to others. --Kenneth Rexroth http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kenneth_Rexroth