Cedric Howell (17 June 1896 – 10 December 1919) was an Australian flying ace of the First World War. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1916 and was posted to the 46th Battalion on the Western Front. In November 1916, he was accepted for a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps and was shipped to the United Kingdom for flight training. Graduating as a pilot, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and posted to No. 45 Squadron RFC in France during October 1917; two months later, the unit sailed to the Italian theatre. Howell spent eight months flying operations over Italy, conducting attacks against ground targets and engaging in sorties against aerial forces and he was credited with shooting down a total of nineteen aircraft. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, the Military Cross and Distinguished Flying Cross. He was posted back to the United Kingdom in July 1918. In 1919, Howell was killed while taking part in the England-to-Australia air race. (Full article…)

Progenitor (red star) of SN 2025pht

• … that SN 2025pht (star pictured) was one of the brightest supernovae observed in 2025?
• … that Muwaffaq al-Din Yaqub ibn Siqlab was fluent in Classical Greek and regularly recited passages from Galen to inform his medical treatments?
• … that a song uses satire in Spanish and English to critique anti-Mexican sentiment in the U.S. and anti-American sentiment in Mexico?
• … that Dutch colonial presence in Mandailing territory began at Kotanopan, Northern Sumatra?
• … that lawyer Guillaume Alexandre Tronson du Coudray was assigned to defend Marie Antoinette just two days before her trial began?
• … that Mavety Media Group, an adult-oriented publishing company, once published a teen magazine?
• … that, four years after Julien Nuijten won the largest award ever earned at a Magic: The Gathering tournament, he won four times as much playing poker?
• … that the Amherstburg First Baptist Church was founded by escaped slaves?
• … that college football player Grayson McCall attended a media-day session wearing a shirt that said “I piss teal”?

Jordan Staal

• In ice hockey, the Carolina Hurricanes defeat the Vegas Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup Final (Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jordan Staal pictured).
• In basketball, the New York Knicks defeat the San Antonio Spurs to win the NBA Finals.
• Elon Musk becomes the world’s first US-dollar trillionaire after his company SpaceX raises the largest initial public offering.
• Princess Bajrakitiyabha of Thailand, a possible heir to the throne, dies at the age of 47 after a three-year comatose state.

June 17

Pope Martin I

• 653 – Pope Martin I (pictured) was arrested in the Lateran Palace, Rome, and taken to Constantinople.
• 1579 – Explorer Francis Drake landed in a region of present-day California, naming it New Albion and claiming it for England.
• 1919 – Hundreds of Canadian soldiers rioted in Epsom, England, leading to the death of a British police officer.
• 1972 – Five men were arrested for attempted burglary on the offices of the Democratic National Committee, igniting the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to the resignation of US president Richard Nixon more than two years later.