From yesterday's featured article
Vance Drummond (1927–1967) was a New Zealand–born Australian pilot who fought in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Posted to No. 77 Squadron in Korea, he flew Gloster Meteor jet fighters and earned the US Air Medal for his combat skills. He was shot down in 1951 and imprisoned for almost two years. He was awarded the Air Force Cross in 1965 after leading the Black Diamonds aerobatic team of No. 75 Squadron. Drummond was promoted to acting wing commander in 1965 and posted to South Vietnam on staff duties with the US Air Force. He joined their 19th Tactical Air Support Squadron, operating Cessna Bird Dog aircraft, as a forward air controller in July 1966. That month he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for his part in rescuing a company of soldiers surrounded by Viet Cong forces. Returning to Australia, he took command of No. 3 Squadron in February 1967. His Dassault Mirage IIIO crashed into the sea during a training exercise in May; neither Drummond nor the aircraft was found. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that Anders Åkerman started the production of terrestrial and celestial globes (example pictured) in Sweden?
- ... that the West Georgia Wolves football team won 13 games in 13 years before folding, but upon returning two decades later compiled consecutive undefeated regular seasons and became national champions?
- ... that Fūka Izumi became a voice actress despite initially doubting that she could be one?
- ... that seven countries competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 for the first time, the largest single expansion of participating countries since the contest's first edition?
- ... that the young Turkish open water swimmer Aysu Türkoğlu has completed three of the Oceans Seven series?
- ... that the Indianapolis African-American community raised $100,000 in just ten days in 1911 to establish the Senate Avenue YMCA?
- ... that Edgar Wright's pitch for an Ant-Man film in 2006 helped to shape the early films of Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
- ... that while touring for her album Wallsocket, Underscores handed out pizza before her sets?
- ... that The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789 has been the first, second, and third volume of the Oxford History of the United States?
In the news (For today)
- The Ownership, Unity and Responsibility Party, led by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare (pictured), wins the most seats in the Solomon Islands general election but falls short of a majority.
- NASA announces that the Voyager 1 space probe is sending readable data for the first time in five months.
- The HDZ-led coalition wins the most seats in the Croatian parliamentary election but falls short of a majority.
- Ichthyotitan, the largest known marine reptile, is formally described.
- Flooding in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Peninsula leaves more than thirty people dead.
On the previous day
April 25: Liberation Day in Italy (1945)
- 1643 – First English Civil War: Despite being vastly outnumbered, a Parliamentarian force under James Chudleigh defeated a Royalist army near Okehampton, Devon, at the Battle of Sourton Down.
- 1915 – First World War: The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed at Anzac Cove while British and French troops landed at Cape Helles to begin the Allied invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire.
- 1960 – The U.S. Navy submarine Triton (pictured) completed the first submerged circumnavigation of the world.
- 1983 – The first issue of The Jakarta Post was published in Indonesia.
- 2015 – Nepal was struck by a magnitude-7.8 earthquake, killing more than 8,000 people.
- Naresuan (d. 1605)
- Georg Sverdrup (b. 1770)
- Emmeline B. Wells (d. 1921)
Yesterday's featured picture
The Madagascar stonechat (Saxicola sibilla) is a species of stonechat endemic to Madagascar. It is a small bird, closely similar to the African stonechat in both plumage and behaviour, but distinguished from it by the more extensive black on the throat and minimal orange-red on the upper breast of the males. This male Madagascar stonechat perching on a branch was photographed in Analamazaotra National Park, near Andasibe. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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