The Second Silesian War (1744–1745) was a conflict between Prussia and Austria which confirmed Prussia's control of Silesia (now in south- western Poland). The war was fought mainly in Silesia, Bohemia, and Upper Saxony and formed one theatre of the wider War of the Austrian Succession. The Habsburg Monarchy's fortunes had improved since the end of the First Silesian War two years earlier. Prussia entered an alliance with Austria's enemies and rejoined the war, invading Habsburg Bohemia in mid-1744 to prevent a resurgent Austria from taking back Silesia. The war ended in a Prussian victory with the Treaty of Dresden in December 1745. Continuing conflict over Silesia would draw Austria and Prussia into the Third Silesian War a decade later. The Second Silesian War repeated the earlier defeat of the Habsburg Monarchy by a lesser German power and contributed to the Austria–Prussia rivalry that would shape German politics for more than a century. (This article is part of a featured topic: Silesian Wars.).
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Silesian_Wars
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1782:
The Badge of Military Merit, the precursor to the U.S. Purple Heart, was established as a military decoration of the Continental Army. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badge_of_Military_Merit
1946:
The Soviet Union informed Turkey that the way in which the latter was handling the Turkish Straits no longer represented the security interests of its fellow Black Sea nations, escalating the Turkish Straits crisis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Straits_crisis
1970:
Jonathan Jackson kidnapped Harold Haley, a judge in Marin County, California, to coerce the release of the Soledad Brothers, including Jackson's brother George. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marin_County_Civic_Center_attacks
1985:
Five members of the Bamber family were found murdered at a farmhouse in Tolleshunt D'Arcy, England. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Farm_murders
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
calabash: 1. A tree (known as the calabash tree; Crescentia cujete) native to Central and South America, the West Indies, and southern Florida, bearing large, round fruit used to make containers (sense 3); the fruit of this tree. 2. The bottle gourd (calabash vine, Lagenaria siceraria), a vine believed to have originated in Africa, which is grown for its fruit that are used as a vegetable and to make containers (sense 3); the fruit of this plant. 3. A container made from the mature, dried shell of the fruit of one of the above plants; also, a similarly shaped container made from some other material. 4. A calabash and its contents; as much as fills such a container. 5. (music) A musical instrument, most commonly a drum or rattle, made from a calabash fruit. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/calabash
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The primary issue is how seriously we take our chosen obligations to people in the developing world who do not have Internet connections. … Frankly, and let me be blunt, Wikipedia as a readable product is not for us. It's for them. It's for that girl in Africa who can save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around her, but only if she's empowered with the knowledge to do so. --Jimmy Wales https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jimmy_Wales