Slovaks remember Milan Rastislav Štefánik

On Monday, Slovakia is commemorating the 101 years since the death of Milan Rastislav Štefánik, one of the most significant figures of Slovakia's modern history. Štefánik was an outstanding astronomer, military pilot, French military general and one of the first Slovaks to ascend Mont Blanc several times. He contributed decisively to the cause of Czechoslovak sovereignty after WWI, along with the country's first president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. Milan Rastislav Štefánik died on 4^th May, 1919 in unexplained circumstances in an air crash in the village of Ivanka pri Dunaji, close to Bratislava.