From today's featured article
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Aircraft on display at No. 1 Aircraft Depot
No. 1 Aircraft Depot (No. 1 AD) was a maintenance unit of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Formed in July 1921 at RAAF Point Cook, Victoria, it relocated to RAAF Laverton in March 1926. In its early years, the depot serviced aircraft and other equipment, trained maintenance staff, and supported survey flights in Australia and the Pacific region. No. 1 AD's strength increased from 350 staff in the 1930s to more than 2,000 during World War II, when it assembled, tested and repaired aircraft such as Tiger Moth trainers, Spitfire fighters, and B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers. After World War II, No. 1 AD introduced the first jets into RAAF service. In 1961, it ceased airframe maintenance but continued to service aero engines. By the 1970s, the depot's focus was ground-based equipment, though it still handled some aircraft components. No. 1 AD was disbanded in December 1994; at the time of its disbandment, it was the oldest RAAF unit in continuous operation. (Full article...)
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Laura Sedgwick Collins
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In the news
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A collapsed building in La Guaira
- Heatwaves affect Europe, leading to over 2,100 deaths.
- Two earthquakes strike Venezuela (damage pictured), leaving more than 2,290 people dead and tens of thousands of others missing.
- Former chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan dies at the age of 100.
- Keir Starmer announces his intention to resign as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
On this day
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Li Shimin
- 626 – Li Shimin (pictured) led his forces to assassinate his rival brothers in a coup for the imperial throne of Tang China.
- 1816 – The French frigate Méduse ran aground off the coast of present-day Mauritania, with the survivors escaping on a makeshift raft, depicted in Théodore Géricault's painting The Raft of the Medusa.
- 1941 – A German SS unit arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania, and began the systematic execution of up to 100,000 people over the next three years.
- 1976 – More than a year after the end of the Vietnam War, North and South Vietnam officially merged under communist rule to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
- 2013 – The International Astronomical Union announced that the fourth and fifth moons of Pluto to be discovered would be named Kerberos and Styx, respectively.
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Today's featured picture
_in_Delaware_Bay,_New_Jersey.jpg) |
The red knot (Calidris canutus) is a medium-sized shorebird in the sandpiper family, Scolopacidae. It breeds across the high Arctic of Canada, Greenland, Europe and Russia, and undertakes some of the longest migrations of any landbird. Six subspecies are recognised, wintering on coasts from western Africa to Australia, New Zealand and South America. It feeds on arthropods and larvae on its breeding grounds and mainly on molluscs and other marine invertebrates during migration and winter. The red knot is a relatively large sandpiper with short dark legs and a thin dark bill. In winter it is mostly pale grey, while breeding adults develop distinctive reddish-cinnamon underparts; the exact plumage varies between subspecies. Although widespread, some populations have declined because of habitat loss, climate change and reduced food availability. This red knot in breeding plumage was photographed in Delaware Bay in New Jersey, United States. Photograph credit: Chuck Homler
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