Hovhannes Bagramyan was a Soviet Armenian military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. During World War II, Bagramyan became the first non-Slavic military officer to become a commander of a Front. Bagramyan's previous experience in military planning as a chief of staff officer allowed him to distinguish himself as a capable commander during the war in the early stages of the Soviet counter-offensives against Nazi Germany. He was given his first command of a unit in 1942 and in November 1943, received his most prestigious command as the head of the First Baltic Front. As head of the Baltic Front, he participated in the offensives which moved westwards to push German forces out of the occupied Soviet Union and the recapturing of the Baltic republics. After the war, he served as a deputy member of the Supreme Soviets of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic and Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic and was a regular attendant of the Party Congresses. In 1952, he became a candidate for entry into the Central Committee and, in 1961, was inducted as a full member. For his contributions during the war, he was widely regarded as a national hero in the Soviet Union, and continues to hold such esteemed status among many Armenians today.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1671: Thomas Blood was caught trying to steal the British Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Blood)

1901: The first Parliament of Australia opened in the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_Australia)

1945: End of World War II in Europe: The signing of a second German Instrument of Surrender by General Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, specifying the capitulation of the Wehrmacht to the Soviet Red Army, was announced. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Instrument_of_Surrender)

1946: King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicated. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Emmanuel_III_of_Italy)

1950: Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology and Dianetics, was first published. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics:_The_Modern_Science_of_Mental_Health)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare express themselves as we did. -- Sophie Scholl of the White Rose (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sophie_Scholl)