Joan of Arc, a folk heroine of France, also known as the Maid of Orleans, was born in 1412 to peasant class and religious parents in Domremy, France. She would grow to become one of the greatest female warriors of the medieval age, leading the French Army into battle and advising the King. She would also become a celebrated historical figure who would years after her death, be canonized into sainthood.

Early life

Joan was born in the village of Domrémy in France. Joan’s parents were farmers and owned about 50 acres (20 hectares) of land. Besides the farming work her father also held the position of a village official, collecting taxes and heading the local watch. Several local raids took place during Joan’s childhood and on one occasion her village was burned.

Divine visions

When she was 13 years old, Joan began to hear voices which she claimed to be St. Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret. She lived her life in accordance with her beliefs from this young age, showing piety, and a devoutness in her faith in God. She also claimed to have regular communications with the Saints and drew upon these experiences to base her beliefs over that of the established church. She shared these traits with other visionaries of her time who claimed similar experiences, such as Madame Jeanne Guyonne.

France was in a difficult situation because the country was torn because of a messy conflict with England known as the Hundred Years’ War. The crown prince of France, Charles of Valois was disinherited because of rumors that he was illigitimate, and King Henry V became ruler of England and France. England occupied much of France and the village that Joan lived in lived under the threat of English invasion.

Joan believed that the voices she heard were sent by God, who had a mission for her to fulfill. She believed that this was to save her beloved country of France by making the English leave. Joan made a vow of chastity to God and pledged her life to him for this purpose. When her father tried to arrange a marriage for her, she went to the court and convinced them that she was not a good candidate for marriage. This in itself shows that at a young age, Joan had the power of persuasion on her side.

Joan as a military leader

Joan managed to convince the dauphin(crown prince of France) that she was truly sent from God to save France. He provided her with military support. Joan led the French and attacked and captured the fortress of St. Loup on May 4th. The next day they marches to St. Jean le Blanc. Joan and her troupe also captured the English stronghold at Les Tourelles on May 7th. During this battle, Joan received a wound as she was shot through the neck with an arrow, but she quickly resumed fighting.

Capture and Trial

After many miraculous victories, Joan became very famous and revered. King Charles was warned that Joan was becoming too powerful. In the spring of 1430, the king had ordered Joan to go out against the Burgundians near Compiegne. Joan was thrown from her horse and taken captive by the English. She was brought to Rouen where she was placed on trial for witchcraft and heresy, and around 70 other charges. The French King did not try to help Joan.

Execution

After much duress, and a year’s imprisonment, Joan signed a confession that denied her guidance by God. A death sentence was pronounced upon her, and at the age of 19, on May 30, 1431, Joan was taken to an old market place and burned at the stake. Her fame skyrocketed after her death, however, it took Charles VII 20 years to clear her name of the charges. She was later canonized in 1920 as the patron saint of France.

Edwina Benner was the first mayor to be elected in California, USA. Although, another town in the state called Sawtelle had already elected a woman named Mrs. Ellen French Aldrich as mayor in 1916. However Sawtelle was merged into Los Angeles in 1922 and as a result Mrs. Aldrich was no longer mayor, since Sawtelle was no longer a town. Hence, a lot of people believe Ms. Edwina Benner to be the first female mayor in California. She was elected as the Mayor of Sunnyvale in 1924 and a second time in 1938.

Her full name was Edwina Adaha Cochrane Benner.

Edwina was born on 1st August 1885 to Welford Irvin Cochrane and Mary Anne Johnson Cochrane on a vineyard in Santa Clara Valley.

She was a middle child in her family and had 2 sisters named Marilda and Elma.

Edwina married Carson Clinton Benner, a local business man in 1909. Edwina and Carson didn’t have any children together and remained married for 36 years until the death of Mr. Carson in 1945.

In 1920, Edwina won a seat as a Sunny Vale Town Trustee. Just a few years later, in 1924, she won the mayoral election and was appointed Mayor of Sunnyvale. She became Sunnyvale’s first mayor and also the first female mayor in California.

Apart from governing the city as mayor, Edwina also volunteered for many other leadership roles and also worked part-time at a local cannery.

She was re-elected as mayor of the city a second time in 1938. In total, she served on the Sunnyvale city council for 28 years.

Mrs. Benner also held other offices in the city including “Commissioner of Public Works” and the “City Commissioner for Finance and Revenue”.

In 1954, the city opened a new school and named it the Edwina Benner Intermediate School in her honor.

She was honored again in 2017 when a new housing project in the city was named after her and called the Edwina Benner Plaza.

Edwina Benner died on 14th May 1955 at the age of 69. She is buried at the Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California.

Major Aziz Bhatti was a Pakistani war hero who fought in the Indo-Pak War of 1965. He was awarded the Nishan-e-Haider which is the highest military honor in the country and only awarded posthumously. Numerous TV shows and films have been produced in Pakistan honoring him and he’s still highly revered in Pakistan.

His full name was Major Raja Abdul-Aziz Bhatti.

Aziz was born in Hong Kong on 14 July 1928 to a Muslim family from India.

Just before the partition of India, Aziz and his family moved to Lahore.

A year after the creation of Pakistan, Aziz joined the Pakistan Army.

He had a total of 6 siblings, 4 brothers and 2 sisters. His father’s name was Abdullah Bhatti and his mother’s was Bibi Amana.

Aziz Bhatti was married and had 6 children.

Initially he joined the Pakistan Air Force but later joined the Pakistan Army as a cadet in 1948.

During his training at the Pakistan Military Academy, he was awarded the ‘Sword of Honor’ an award given to him for being the best cadet in a batch of 300 officers. He also won the Norman Gold Medal.

In 1950, Major Aziz Bhatti started his service in 4 battalion of the 16th Punjab regiment of Pakistan Army.

During the 1965 war with India, he was posted in Lahore.

His was stationed in Burki, Lahore and his job was to defend Lahore from Indian attacks.

While under heavy fire from Indian infantry, tanks and artillery he moved forward with one of his platoons to defend the strategic BRB canal near Lahore’s border with India.

His platoon of few soldiers was under constant fire from a whole Indian Army battalion.

Given how outnumbered Aziz and his troops were, he was ordered to retreat back to his home base. Aziz covered the retreat of all his men and was the last to leave the area.

While at his home base, he defended his posts against Indian attacks.

Aziz observed enemy positions that his men could target.

To get a better view he moved to higher ground, despite knowing that this would expose him heavily to enemy fire.

While looking through his binoculars, selecting enemy targets Major Aziz got hit by a tank shell in his left shoulder. He died on the spot on 11 September 1965.

It is said that Major Aziz Bhatti didn’t rest during the battle near BRB canal and stayed awake continuously for 5 days. His soldiers and commanding officer asked him to take a rest but he carried on fighting saying he would rather die defending his motherland than go back.

For his gallantry he was awarded the ‘Nishan-e-Haider’ military honor.

He’s also known as “Muhafiz-e-Lahore” which means “Protector of Lahore”.

Major Aziz Bhatti(Nishan-e-Haider) is honored each year on Pakistan’s Defense & Martyrs Day.

Regarded as one of the best snipers of all time, Lyudmila Pavlichenko was born in Tserkva city in Ukraine(formerly part of the Soviet Union). Pavlichenko is also considered the greatest female sniper of all time.

Facts About Lyudmila Pavlichenko:

• She was born on 12 July 1916.
• Her full name was Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko.
• She got married at 16 and had a son. Her marriage was short lived and ended in divorce.
• She studied at Kiev University from where she got a Masters degree in History.
• When Pavlichenko was young, she joined a shooting club and became a skilled marksman.
• At the age of 25, Pavlichenko was recruited as a sniper in the Soviet Red Army after initially being refused a combat role. Pavlichenko’s superiors thought she was pretty and delicate, and was more suited to being a nurse. Pavlichenko proved them wrong by showing them her shooting skills.
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