From today's featured articleBobby Gibbes (6 May 1916 – 11 April 2007) was an Australian fighter ace of World War II, and the longest-serving wartime commander of No. 3 Squadron RAAF. He was officially credited with 10¼ aerial victories, although his score is often reported as 12, including 2 shared; he commanded No. 3 Squadron in North Africa during 1942–43. A jackaroo and salesman before joining the Royal Australian Air Force in 1940, Gibbes flew with No. 3 Squadron in the Middle East, and became commanding officer during the Western Desert Campaign. His leadership and fighting skills earned him the Distinguished Service Order and the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar. Posted to the South West Pacific in 1944, he served with No. 80 Wing of the Australian First Tactical Air Force, and took part in the "Morotai Mutiny" of April 1945. After the war he spent many years in New Guinea developing local industry, for which he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2004. He continued to fly until he was 85. (Full article...)
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On this dayMay 6: Ramadan begins (Islam, 2019)
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The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. It is named after British author Arthur C. Clarke (pictured), who gave a grant to establish the award in 1987. Any "full-length" science fiction novel written or translated into English is eligible for the prize, provided that it was first published in the United Kingdom during the prior calendar year. There is no restriction on the nationality of the author, and the publication history of works outside the United Kingdom is not taken into consideration. Books may be submitted for consideration by their publishing company, and, beginning in 2016, self-published titles have been eligible with certain qualifications. During the 32 nomination years, 125 authors have had works nominated, 27 of whom have won. China Miéville has won three times, while Pat Cadigan and Geoff Ryman have won twice each; no other author has won multiple times. Stephen Baxter and Gwyneth Jones have the most nominations, at seven each. (Full list...)
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HMS Temeraire was a 98-gun Royal Navy ship of the line. Built at Chatham Dockyard and launched in 1798, she served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, mostly on blockades or convoy escort duties. She fought only one fleet action, the Battle of Trafalgar of 1805, in which she went into action immediately astern of Horatio Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory. During the battle, Temeraire came to the rescue of the beleaguered Victory and fought and captured two French ships, winning public renown in Britain. This picture, titled The Fighting Temeraire, is an oil-on-canvas painting by J. M. W. Turner that depicts the ship being tugged to be broken up in 1838. Turner's painting achieved widespread critical acclaim and received accolades from the likes of John Ruskin and William Makepeace Thackeray. It hangs today in the National Gallery in London and was voted the nation's favourite painting in a poll organised by BBC Radio 4's Today programme in 2005. Painting credit: J. M. W. Turner
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