The Battle of Lake Trasimene was fought when a Carthaginian force under
Hannibal (bust pictured) ambushed a Roman army on the Italian Peninsula
commanded by Gaius Flaminius on 21 June 217 BC, during the Second
Punic War. The Romans had an army on each side of the Apennine
Mountains, but were surprised when a 50,000-strong Carthaginian army
crossed by a difficult but unguarded route. Flaminius, in charge of the
nearest Roman army, set off in pursuit. Hannibal sprung his ambush south
of Cortona, on Lake Trasimene's north shore. With the Carthaginians
attacking unexpectedly from the flank and the rear, possibly in poor
visibility, the Romans had no chance to form even a rudimentary fighting
line; they were defeated after three hours of hard fighting. The trap
failed to close on 6,000 Romans, but they surrendered later in the day
and so all 25,000 Romans engaged were killed or captured. This
destruction of an entire army due to an ambush by another is widely
considered to be a unique occurrence.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lake_Trasimene>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1854:
Crimean War: During the Battle of Bomarsund, Irish sailor
Charles Davis Lucas threw an artillery shell off his ship before it
exploded, earning him the first Victoria Cross.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Davis_Lucas>
1890:
Rudyard Kipling's poem Mandalay was published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandalay_%28poem%29>
1921:
Irish War of Independence: Most of the village of Knockcroghery
in County Roscommon was burned by British forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knockcroghery>
1957:
Ellen Fairclough became the first woman to be appointed to the
cabinet of Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Fairclough>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
Mummerset:
1. An imaginary rural county in the West Country of England.
2. (often theater) An invented English language dialect used by actors
that mimics a stereotypical West Country rural accent.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Mummerset>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
As individuals, men believe they ought to love and serve each
other and establish justice between each other. As racial, economic and
national groups they take for themselves, whatever their power can
command.
--Reinhold Niebuhr
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Reinhold_Niebuhr>