From today's featured article
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 The military history of Australia during World War II began with Australia declaring war on Germany on 3 September 1939. By the end of the war, almost a million Australians had served in the armed forces, primarily in the European theatre, North African campaign, and the South West Pacific theatre. In addition, Australia came under direct attack for the first time in its history. Casualties from enemy action during the war were 27,073 killed and 23,477 wounded. While most Australian forces were withdrawn from the Mediterranean following the outbreak of war in the Pacific, they continued to take part in the air offensive against Germany. Australian forces played a key role in the Pacific War, making up the majority of Allied strength in the South West Pacific throughout much of the fighting there. The military continued offensive operations against the Japanese until the war ended. The war contributed to major changes in the nation's economy, military and foreign policy. It accelerated the process of industrialisation, led to the development of a larger peacetime military and began the process with which Australia shifted the focus of its foreign policy from Britain to the United States. (Full article...)
Recently featured: Alcohol laws of New Jersey – Kenneth Widmerpool – Western Jackdaw
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Today's articles for improvement
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In the news
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On this day...
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April 25: Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand
1644 – The Ming Dynasty of China fell when the Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng.
1792 – The guillotine (example pictured) was first used to carry out capital punishment in France, with crowds marvelling at the machine's speed and precision.
1849 – After Lord Elgin, the Governor General of Canada, signed the Rebellion Losses Bill into law to compensate the residents of Lower Canada for losses incurred in Rebellions of 1837, protestors rioted and burned down the Parliament building in Montreal.
1945 – German troops retreated from northern Finland, bringing the Lapland War to a close.
1953 – "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids" by molecular biologists James Watson and Francis Crick was first published in the scientific journal Nature, describing the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA.
1990 – Violeta Chamorro took office as the President of Nicaragua, the first woman elected in her own right as a head of state in the Americas.
2005 – A commuter train came off its tracks in Amagasaki, Hyōgo, Japan, and rammed into an apartment building, killing the driver and 106 passengers and injuring 555 others in the Amagasaki rail crash.
More anniversaries: April 24 – April 25 – April 26
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