Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 January 13

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From today's featured article

Avro 504, used for basic instruction until 1928

No. 1 Flying Training School (No. 1 FTS) was one of the original units of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), dating back to the service's formation in 1921 at Point Cook, Victoria. It was re-formed several times in the ensuing years, initially as No. 1 Service Flying Training School in 1940, under the wartime Empire Air Training Scheme. After graduating nearly 3,000 pilots, it was disbanded in late 1944, when there was no further need to train Australian aircrews for service in Europe. The school was re-established in 1946 at Uranquinty, New South Wales, and transferred to Point Cook the following year. To cope with the demands of the Korean War and Malayan Emergency, it was re-formed as No. 1 Applied Flying Training School in 1952 and moved to Pearce, Western Australia, in 1958. Another school was meanwhile formed at Uranquinty, No. 1 Basic Flying Training School (No. 1 BFTS), which transferred to Point Cook in 1958. In 1969, No. 1 AFTS was re-formed as No. 2 Flying Training School and No. 1 BFTS was re-formed as No. 1 FTS. Rationalisation of RAAF flying training resulted in the disbandment of No. 1 FTS in 1993. (Full article...)

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In the news

David Bowie in 2002

At least ten people are killed in a suicide bombing in Istanbul, Turkey.
English singer, songwriter and producer David Bowie (pictured) dies at the age of 69.
Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán is recaptured six months after escaping from prison.
North Korea conducts its fourth nuclear test, claiming to have used a hydrogen bomb.
A terrorist attack at India's Pathankot Air Force Station kills at least seven members of the security forces.
Saudi Arabia executes Nimr al-Nimr for his role in the 2011–12 Saudi Arabian protests.

Ongoing events:
- European migrant crisis
Recent deaths:

On this day...

January 13: St. Knut's Day in Finland and Sweden

Greek flag

1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: A naval battle off the coast of Brittany between two British frigates and a French ship of the line ended with over 900 deaths when the latter ran aground.
1822 – The design of the current flag of Greece (pictured) was adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus for their naval flag.
1953 – An article published in Pravda accused some of the most prestigious physicians in the Soviet Union, mostly Jews, of taking part in a vast plot to poison members of the top Soviet political and military leadership.
1986 – The month-long South Yemen Civil War began in Aden between supporters of President Ali Nasir Muhammad and his predecessor Abdul Fattah Ismail, resulting in thousands of casualties.
2001 – The first of two large earthquakes struck El Salvador, killing at least 944 people and destroying over 100,000 homes.

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Today's featured picture

Mercury is the smallest and closest to the Sun of the eight planets in the Solar System. It has no known natural satellites. The planet is named after the Roman deity Mercury, the messenger to the gods.

Photograph: NASA/APL/CIS; edit: Jjron

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