Reg Pollard (20 January 1903 – 9 March 1978) was a senior commander in the Australian Army, serving as Chief of the General Staff from 1960 to 1963. He was mentioned in despatches in 1941 after seeing action with the 7th Division in the Middle East. In 1942 he became senior staff officer of the division in New Guinea, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his actions. Pollard's early post-war roles involved recruit training, administration, and planning. In 1953 he took command of the Australian Army Component of the British Commonwealth Forces Korea. In 1957 he was promoted to lieutenant general and took charge of Eastern Command in Sydney. Knighted in 1961, he presided over the Army's reorganisation as Chief of the General Staff, and helped Royal Military College, Duntroon become a degree-granting institution. In 1962, he oversaw deployment of the first team of Australian military advisors to South Vietnam. After retiring from the military in 1963, Pollard became Honorary Colonel of the Royal Australian Regiment; he served as Australian Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II during the Royal Visit in 1970.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reg_Pollard_(general)

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1265:

Summoned by Simon de Montfort, the first English parliament held its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_de_Montfort%27s_Parliament

1843:

Honório Hermeto Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná, became the de facto first prime minister of the Empire of Brazil. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hon%C3%B3rio_Hermeto_Carneiro_Le%C3%A3o,_Marquis_of_Paran%C3%A1

1945:

World War II: Germany began the evacuation of at least 1.8 million people from East Prussia, an operation which took nearly two months to complete. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evacuation_of_East_Prussia

1969:

Bengali student activist Amanullah Asaduzzaman was shot and killed by East Pakistani police, one of the events that led to the Bangladesh Liberation War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanullah_Asaduzzaman

2009:

During the Icelandic financial crisis, thousands of people gathered to protest at the parliament in Reykjavík. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Icelandic_financial_crisis_protests

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

intuit: To know intuitively or by immediate perception. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/intuit

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

There are so many clues and feelings in the world that it makes a mystery and a mystery means there's a puzzle to be solved. Once you think like that you're hooked on probably finding a meaning, and there're many avenues in life where we're given little indications that the mystery can one day be solved. We get little proofs, — not the big proof — but the little proofs that keep us searching.   --David Lynch https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Lynch