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>
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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>
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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>
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