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From today's featured article Iven Mackay (1882–1966) was a senior Australian Army officer who saw action in both World Wars. He served with the 4th Infantry Battalion at Gallipoli, distinguishing himself in hand-to-hand fighting at the Battle of Lone Pine. On the Western Front, he assumed command of the 4th Battalion in 1916 and led the 1st Infantry Brigade in 1918. After the war he studied physics at the University of Cambridge under Ernest Rutherford. He remained in the Militia between the wars, and was a major general by the time the Second World War broke out. He commanded the 6th Division through the Australian Army's first battles of the war. During the Battle of Bardia in 1941, the 6th Division captured the fortified town along with 36,000 Italian prisoners; Mackay was knighted for this success. In the Battle of Greece, he became the only Australian general to face the Waffen SS in battle. He was recalled to Australia in 1941, commanding the Home Forces and New Guinea Force as a lieutenant general. His active service ended in 1943 with his appointment as High Commissioner to India. (Full article...) Part of the Command in the South West Pacific Area series, one of Wikipedia's featured topics. Recently featured: Dream of the Rarebit Fiend Master of Puppets Battle of Agua Dulce Did you know... Whoopie pie ... that while Maine nutrition educator Katherine O. Musgrave criticized the Fit for Life diet plan, she praised the nutritional benefits of the whoopie pie (pictured), Maine's official state treat? ... that Royal Lao Government casualties outnumbered the People's Army of Vietnam defenders in Operation Sayasila? ... that Ali Brownlee covered over 1,000 Middlesbrough Football Club matches for BBC Tees and Century FM? ... that Toda Embroidery, made exclusively by women of the Toda pastoral community in the Nilgiri mountains, appears like a woven cloth? ... that Rachel Browne established Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers, Canada's longest-running modern dance company? ... that Northampton War Memorial was designed in 1920 but was not installed until six years later? ... that Min Huifen, called the "Queen of Erhu", performed in support of the student protesters of Tiananmen Square? ... that the Hindu text Vajrasuchi Upanishad questions social classes, and asserts that any human being can achieve the highest spiritual state of existence?

In the news Whitfield Diffie Honduran environmental activist Berta Cáceres is murdered, prompting protests and calls for an investigation. In the Irish general election, the ruling Fine Gael–Labour coalition loses its majority and over a third of its vote, but Fine Gael narrowly remains the largest party. Whitfield Diffie (pictured) and Martin Hellman win the Turing Award for introducing the ideas of public-key cryptography and digital signatures. Mad Max: Fury Road wins six awards and Spotlight wins Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Thirty-six people are killed in a series of explosions in a coal mine near Vorkuta, Russia. Ongoing events: Zika virus outbreak European migrant crisis Recent deaths: Martin Crowe George Kennedy On this day... March 6: Laetare Sunday (Western Christianity, 2016); Independence Day in Ghana (1957) Dmitri Mendeleev 961 – The Muslim Emirate of Crete was conquered by the Byzantine Empire. 1447 – Tomaso Parentucelli became Pope Nicholas V. 1869 – Dmitri Mendeleev (pictured) presented the first periodic table of elements to the Russian Chemical Society. 1930 – Organized by the Communist International, hundreds of thousands of people in major cities around the world marched to protest mass unemployment associated with the Great Depression. 1988 – In Operation Flavius, the British Special Air Service killed three Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers conspiring to bomb a parade of British military bands in Gibraltar. More anniversaries: March 5 March 6 March 7

Today's featured picture Sari is an 8th-century Buddhist temple located in Tirtomartani, Kalasan, Sleman, Yogyakarta. The building was originally two storeys with wooden beams, floors, and stairs; all organic materials are now decayed and gone. It is suggested that the original function of this building was a vihara (Buddhist monastery). Photograph: Chris Woodrich Recently featured: Ukiyo-e print Jupiter North Carolina pound

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