The Battle of Öland (1676) was fought between an allied Danish-Dutch
fleet and the Swedish navy in the Baltic Sea, east of Öland, during the
Scanian War (1675–79). Sweden needed reinforcements for its northern
German possessions; Denmark sought to ferry an army to attack Scania in
southern Sweden. Just as the battle began, the Swedish flagship Kronan
sank, taking with it the commander of the Swedish navy, Lorentz Creutz.
The next in command, Claes Uggla, drowned while escaping his burning
ship, Svärdet. The allied force under Dutch admiral Cornelis Tromp
pressed its advantage, and the rest of the Swedish fleet fled in
disorder. The battle resulted in Danish naval supremacy, then and
throughout the war. The Danish King Christian V was able to ship troops
over to the Swedish side of the Sound, and Scania became the main
battleground of the war, culminating with the bloody battles of Lund,
Halmstad and Landskrona. Danish and Dutch naval forces were left free to
raze Öland and the Swedish east coast all the way up to Stockholm. The
Swedish failure at Öland prompted King Charles XI to order a commission
to investigate the fiasco, but in the end no one was found guilty.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_%C3%96land>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1649:
English Civil War: King Charles I, who was defeated in both
the First and the Second Civil Wars, was beheaded for high treason in
front of the Banqueting House in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_I_of_England>
1826:
The Menai Suspension Bridge (pictured), connecting the Isle of
Anglesey and the mainland of Wales, one of the world's first modern
suspension bridges, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menai_Suspension_Bridge>
1889:
Archduke Rudolf, heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, was found
dead in a suicide pact with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera in
Mayerling.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf,_Crown_Prince_of_Austria>
1945:
World War II: In one of the largest losses of life in a single
sinking in maritime history, the Soviet submarine S-13 sank the Wilhelm
Gustloff carrying German soldiers and refugees evacuating from East
Prussia, killing at least 9,400 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Wilhelm_Gustloff>
1968:
Vietnam War: Forces of the Viet Cong and the Vietnam People's
Army launched the Tet Offensive to strike military and civilian command
and control centers throughout South Vietnam.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tet_Offensive>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
mignon:
Small and cute; pretty in a delicate way; dainty.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mignon>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Any technology that does not appear magical is insufficiently
advanced.
--Gregory Benford
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gregory_Benford>