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Raymond Brownell (17 May 1894 – 12 April 1974) was a senior officer in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and a World War I flying ace. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at the outbreak of World War I and served in the Gallipoli campaign before transferring to the Western Front. Awarded the Military Medal for his actions during the Battle of Pozières, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in 1917. Moving with his squadron to Italy, he was awarded the Military Cross and credited with shooting down 12 aircraft. After the war, Brownell returned to Australia and was group captain at the outbreak of World War II. Establishing the RAAF base in Singapore, he returned to Australia in 1941 and was appointed to lead No. 1 Training Group. He was Air Officer Commanding Western Area for over two years, then led the No. 11 Group on Morotai. Retiring from the RAAF in 1947, Brownell became a partner in a stockbroking firm. He died in 1974; his autobiography was published posthumously. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

George Henry Jenkins

... that George Jenkins (pictured) was described in 1901 as "the happiest, proudest, most important and most worried individual" in Australia, but 90 years later as "a lazy, dictatorial, unctuous opportunist"?
... that the Golden State Valkyries are the first expansion franchise in the WNBA since 2008?
... that a 2021 Dutch translation of the Bible introduces five new animals?
... that in Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945, "the 'American people' appear with conspicuous infrequency"?
... that Julian Prégardien's performance as the Evangelist in Bach's St Matthew Passion was noted by one reviewer for its emphatic and penetrating "profoundly human" nature?
... that The New York Times called Teeth a "feminist awakening with a lethal bite"?
... that Debbie Currie once worked as a lollipop lady?
... that the Missoula Children's Theatre works with more than 65,000 children every year?
... that in two years the Thourots became the Brewers, who became the Palaces, who became the Jackaways, who became the Mules, who then disbanded?

In the news

Lawrence Wong

Lee Hsien Loong steps down after nearly 20 years as the prime minister of Singapore, and is succeeded by Lawrence Wong (pictured).
Robert Fico, the prime minister of Slovakia, is hospitalised after an assassination attempt.
Switzerland, represented by Nemo with "The Code", wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
A series of solar storms impact Earth, creating aurorae seen farther from the poles than usual.
Former prime minister of Fiji Frank Bainimarama is sentenced to one year in prison for attempting to pervert the course of justice.

On this day

May 17: International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia; Sanja Matsuri begins in Tokyo, Japan (2024)

Anne of Denmark

1590 – Anne of Denmark (pictured) was crowned the queen consort of Scotland in a ceremony at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh.
1863 – American Civil War: At the Battle of Big Black River Bridge in Mississippi, Union forces under John A. McClernand defeated a Confederate rearguard and captured around 1,700 men.
1900 – The first copies of the children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum were printed.
1954 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education, outlawing racial segregation in public schools because "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" and therefore unconstitutional.
1987 – An Iraqi jet fired two Exocet missiles at the American frigate USS Stark, killing 37 personnel and injuring 21 others.

Caroline of Brunswick (b. 1768)
Little Gerhard (b. 1934)
Maggie Laubser (d. 1973)

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From today's featured list

Tom Cruise

The filmography of Tom Cruise, an American actor, comprises 53 films as of 2023. Cruise made his debut in the romantic drama Endless Love (1981). His breakthrough role was in the coming-of-age comedy Risky Business (1983), for which he garnered his first Golden Globe Award nomination. In 1986, Cruise played a fighter pilot in Tony Scott's Top Gun, which was the highest grossing film of that year; he returned to the role in Top Gun: Maverick (2022). He portrayed anti-war activist Ron Kovic in Born on the Fourth of the July (1989), for which he received his first Golden Globe Award. Three years later, he appeared with Jack Nicholson in the legal drama A Few Good Men (1992). In 1996, Cruise starred as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible, the first film from his production company Cruise/Wagner Productions; he has appeared in six sequel films to date, most recently Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023). He earned his second and third Golden Globes for the title role in Cameron Crowe's Jerry Maguire (1996) and the Paul Thomas Anderson–directed drama Magnolia (1999). (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The Red Cape, also known as Madame Monet or The Red Kerchief, is an oil-on-canvas snowscape by the French Impressionist artist Claude Monet. Painted around 1868 to 1873, it depicts Monet's wife, Camille, passing outside a window dressed in a red cape as seen from inside a house. Monet created the painting while living in Argenteuil and the solitary setting at his home there allowed him to paint in relative peace, as well as spend time with his family. It is Monet's only known snowscape painting featuring Camille. The Red Cape is now in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio, United States.

Painting credit: Claude Monet

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