2nd Red Banner Army

2nd Red Banner Army.
The 2nd Red Banner Army was a Soviet field army of World War II that was formed at Khabarovsk in the Soviet Far East in July 1938. It spent most of the war guarding the border in the Blagoveshchensk area, sending formations to the Eastern Front while undergoing several reorganizations. At the time of its creation, the unit was part of the army group known as the Far Eastern Front. The unit was designated as the 2nd Army and was led by corps commander Ivan Konev (pictured). It became the 2nd Independent Red Banner Army in September 1938 when the front was dissolved and its troops were split into two independent armies, and was redesignated in June 1940 as the 2nd Red Banner Army. In August 1945, the army fought in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, capturing the Japanese fortified regions of Aihun and Sunwu adjacent to its sector of the border, and advancing into Manchuria to Qiqihar. The army was disbanded after the war in late 1945.

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Cyril Bassett

Cyril Bassett.
Cyril Bassett (1892–1983) was a New Zealand recipient of the Victoria Cross, the Commonwealth's highest combat award for gallantry at the time. He was the only soldier serving with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Gallipoli campaign of the First World War to receive this award. Born in Auckland, Bassett was a bank worker when the First World War began. Posted to the New Zealand Divisional Signal Company of the Territorial Force as a sapper, he saw action on the opening day of the Gallipoli campaign. It was during the Battle of Chunuk Bair in August 1915 that he performed the actions that led to his award. Medically evacuated due to sickness shortly after the battle, he later served on the Western Front and finished the war as a second lieutenant. Recalled to active duty during the Second World War, he served in the Home Guard as a commander of signals in the Northern Military District, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.

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Second Silesian War

Second Silesian War.
The Second Silesian War (1744–1745) was a conflict between Prussia and Austria which confirmed Prussia's control of Silesia (now in south-western Poland). The war was fought mainly in Silesia, Bohemia, and Upper Saxony and formed one theatre of the wider War of the Austrian Succession. The Habsburg Monarchy's fortunes had improved since the end of the First Silesian War two years earlier. Prussia entered an alliance with Austria's enemies and rejoined the war, invading Habsburg Bohemia in mid-1744 to prevent a resurgent Austria from taking back Silesia. The war ended in a Prussian victory with the Treaty of Dresden in December 1745. Continuing conflict over Silesia would draw Austria and Prussia into the Third Silesian War a decade later. The Second Silesian War repeated the earlier defeat of the Habsburg Monarchy by a lesser German power and contributed to the Austria–Prussia rivalry that would shape German politics for more than a century. (This article is part of a featured topic: Silesian Wars.)

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Passions

Passions.
The Russell family is a fictional family on the American soap opera Passions, which aired on NBC (1999–2007) and on DirecTV (2007–2008). Created by the soap's founder and head writer James E. Reilly, the family originally consisted of the married couple Eve and T. C. Russell and their children, Whitney and Simone. Later characters included Eve's vengeful adoptive sister Liz Sanbourne, Whitney's husband Chad Harris-Crane, Eve's aunt Irma Johnson, and Eve's child with Julian Crane, Vincent Clarkson, whose alter ego Valerie was played by Daphnée Duplaix (pictured). The cast was frequently nominated for NAACP Image Awards and featured prominently in a series of public service announcements for Black History Month in 2003. The show drew mixed critical attention for storylines involving Chad's affair with the intersex Vincent, but won the award for Outstanding Daily Drama at the GLAAD Media Awards in 2006 for its portrayal of Simone's sexuality. (This article is part of a featured topic: Russell family (Passions).)