(AFC) during World War I. He was credited with twenty-six victories in
aerial combat, making him the second most successful ace in the AFC
after Harry Cobby, and the fourth highest-scoring Australian ace of the
war. A civil pilot and engineer between the wars, he served in the Royal
Australian Air Force (RAAF) from 1939 until his death. King initially
saw active service as a lighthorseman in Egypt in 1916. He transferred
to the AFC as a mechanic in January 1917, and was commissioned that year
as a pilot. Posted to No. 4 Squadron, he flew Sopwith Camels and Snipes
on the Western Front. He scored seven of his victories in the Snipe,
more than any other pilot. His exploits earned him the Distinguished
Flying Cross, the Distinguished Service Order, and a mention in
despatches. Returning to Australia in 1919, King spent some years in
civil aviation before co-founding a successful engineering business. He
joined the RAAF following the outbreak of World War II and held several
training commands, rising to the rank of group captain shortly before
his sudden death in November 1941 aged forty-seven.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elwyn_Roy_King>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1443:
Having deserted the army of the Ottoman Empire, Skanderbeg went
to Krujë in Middle Albania and using a forged letter from Sultan
Murad II to the Governor of Krujë, became lord of the city.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skanderbeg>
1660:
At London's Gresham College, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins,
Christopher Wren and other leading scientists founded a learned society
now known as the Royal Society.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Society>
1919:
Nancy Astor, the first woman to serve as a Member of Parliament
in the British House of Commons, was elected in a by-election.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Astor,_Viscountess_Astor>
1943:
World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British
Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin (all
three pictured) met at the Tehran Conference to discuss war strategy
against the Axis powers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehran_Conference>
1987:
South African Airways Flight 295 suffered a catastrophic in-
flight fire and crashed into the Indian Ocean east of Mauritius, killing
all 159 on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Airways_Flight_295>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tractator:
1. (historical) In medieval commerce, the person who handles or transports
merchandise on behalf of an investor.
2. A person who writes tracts.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tractator>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let it go, let it go! I am one with the wind and sky! Let it
go, let it go! You'll never see me cry… Let it go, let it go! And I'll
rise like the break of dawn Let it go, let it go! That perfect girl is
gone Here I stand In the light of day! Let the storm rage on! The cold
never bothered me anyway!
--Frozen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Frozen_(2013_film)>
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