[Wikipedia] May 12: Victoria Cross for New Zealand

The Victoria Cross for New Zealand is a military decoration awarded for
valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the New Zealand Armed
Forces. It may be awarded to a person of any rank in any service and
civilians under military command, and is presented to the recipient by
the Governor-General of New Zealand during an investiture held at
Government House, Wellington. As the highest award for gallantry in New
Zealand it takes precedence over other postnominals and medals. The
original Victoria Cross was introduced in 1856 by Queen Victoria to
reward acts of valour during the Crimean War. The Victoria Cross for
New Zealand was established in 1999 and was awarded for the first (and
so far only) time on 2 July 2007, to Corporal Bill (Willie) Apiata for
actions in 2004. Due to its rarity, the VC is highly prized and the
medal has been sold for over £200,000 at auction. Originally all
Commonwealth personnel were issued with the same award, but in the last
50 years, Commonwealth countries have introduced separate award
systems; three of these retain "Victoria Cross" as part of the name of
the highest award for gallantry. New Zealand created a new award system
that replaced several Commonwealth Honours with separate awards.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Cross_for_New_Zealand>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1551:

The National University of San Marcos, the oldest university in the
Americas, was founded in Lima, Peru.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_University_of_San_Marcos>

1885:

North-West Rebellion: Louis Riel and the Métis rebels were decisively
defeated by Canadian forces under Major-General Frederick Middleton in
Batoche, Saskatchewan.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Riel>

1941:

German engineer Konrad Zuse presented the Z3 , the world's first
working programmable, fully automatic computer, to an audience of
scientists in Berlin.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z3_%28computer%29>

1958:

Canada and the United States signed a formal agreement establishing the
North American Air Defense Command to provide aerospace warning and
defense for North America.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Aerospace_Defense_Command>

2008:

An earthquake measuring about 8.0 Ms struck the Sichuan province of
China, killing at least 69,000 people, injuring at least 374,000, and
leaving at least 4.8 million others homeless.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Sichuan_earthquake>

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Wiktionary's word of the day:

quasar (n):
(astronomy) An extragalactic object, starlike in appearance, that is
among the most luminous and thought to be the most distant objects in
the universe
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quasar>

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Wikiquote quote of the day:

I never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however
small, for it is wonderful how often in such matters the mustard-seed
germinates and roots itself.
--Florence Nightingale
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale>

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