Featured Article of the Day

Ellis Wackett (13 August 1901 – 3 August 1984) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Its chief engineer from 1935 to 1959, he served on the RAAF's Air Board for a record seventeen years and was credited with infusing operations with new standards of airworthiness. Starting as a Royal Australian Navy cadet, he transferred to the Air Force in 1923. He inaugurated parachute instruction within the RAAF and made the country's first freefall descent from a military aircraft in 1926. Wackett rose to air commodore by 1942, assuming the role of Air Member for Engineering and Maintenance, then established the Technical Branch as a separate department of the RAAF in 1948. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire and Companion of the Order of the Bath. From 1960 to 1968, he was a member of the Australian National Airlines Commission, the parent of Trans Australia Airlines. (Full article...)

Today's Selected Anniversaries

August 13

Scene from the 1876 production of Das Rheingold

• 582 – Maurice was crowned as Byzantine emperor, succeeding Tiberius II Constantine.
• 1650 – General George Monck founded Monck's Regiment of Foot, the predecessor to the Coldstream Guards, the oldest regular regiment of the British Army in continuous active service.
• 1876 – A performance of Das Rheingold (scene pictured) opened the first performance of Richard Wagner's Ring cycle at the inaugural Bayreuth Festival, attended by emperors and other composers.
• 1918 – Opha May Johnson became the first woman to enlist in the United States Marine Corps.
• 2010 – After being boarded by Canadian authorities, MV Sun Sea docked in British Columbia and the 492 Sri Lankan Tamil refugee claimants on board were placed in detention.