Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 March 2

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Lionel Matthews (15 August 1912 – 2 March 1944) was an Australian Army officer during World War II who was posthumously awarded the George Cross, the highest non-combat award for heroism for members of the Australian armed forces at the time. Matthews served in the 27th Brigade during the Malayan campaign, and at the surrender of Singapore in 1942 became a prisoner of war (POW). He was awarded the Military Cross for courage, energy and ability under fire during this fighting. At Sandakan POW camp Matthews established an intelligence network, collecting information, weapons, medical supplies and radio parts, and making contact with organisations outside the camp. The group was betrayed, and Matthews was arrested, beaten, tortured and starved. He refused to provide any information, and was executed by firing squad. After the war he was awarded the George Cross in recognition of his gallant and distinguished services while in Japanese hands. (Full article...)

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On this day

March 2

Carl Sylvius Völkner

1444 – The League of Lezhë, an alliance of regional chieftains, was established in Venetian Albania with Skanderbeg as its commander.
1865 – New Zealand Wars: Carl Sylvius Völkner (pictured), a Protestant missionary, was killed by Hauhau militants in Ōpōtiki for working as an agent for George Grey, Governor-General of New Zealand.
1937 – The Steel Workers Organizing Committee, precursor to the United Steel Workers of America, had a major success when it signed a collective-bargaining agreement with U.S. Steel.
1962 – Led by General Ne Win, the Burmese military seized power in a coup d'état.
2017 – A naming ceremony for the chemical elements moscovium, tennessine, and oganesson took place at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.

George Sandys (b. 1578)
Susanna M. Salter (b. 1860)
Selim Sırrı Tarcan (d. 1957)

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Today's featured picture

Les Troyens (The Trojans) is a French grand opera in five acts by Hector Berlioz, with a libretto written by the composer himself based on Virgil's Aeneid. The score was composed between 1856 and 1858, but Berlioz did not live long enough to see the work performed in its entirety. The first two acts were performed separately under the title La Prise de Troie. This picture shows the cover of the first-edition vocal score for La Prise de Troie, published in 1863.

Illustration credit: Antoine Barbizet; restored by Adam Cuerden

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