The Second Arab Siege of Constantinople in 717–718 was a land and sea
offensive by the Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate against the capital city
of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople. In 716, after 20 years of
progressive occupation of the borderlands of Byzantium during its
prolonged internal turmoil, Arabs led by Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik
invaded Byzantine Asia Minor. They made common cause with the general
Leo the Isaurian, who had risen up against Emperor Theodosios III, but
Leo tricked them and secured the Byzantine throne for himself in 717.
The Arab army then crossed into Thrace and built siege lines to blockade
the city, which was protected by the massive Theodosian Walls. The Arab
fleet's attempted blockade was neutralized by the Byzantine navy's Greek
fire (pictured), and the Arab army was crippled by famine and disease
during the unusually hard winter that followed. After the defeat of two
Arab fleets and another Arab army, followed by an attack on their rear
by Bulgarians, the siege was lifted in 718. Although regular attacks on
Byzantine territories continued, the Caliphate's goal of conquest was
abandoned. Historians credit the siege with halting the Muslim advance
into Europe, and rank it among history's most consequential battles.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_(717%E2%80%9318)>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1789:
The Power of Sympathy by William Hill Brown, widely considered
to be the first American novel, was published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Sympathy>
1840:
The French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville discovered Adélie
Land, Antarctica.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Dumont_d%27Urville>
1931:
Sir Isaac Isaacs became the first Australian-born Governor-
General of Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Isaacs>
1968:
Cold War: A B-52 bomber carrying four nuclear weapons crashed
onto sea ice near Thule Air Base, Greenland, causing widespread
radioactive contamination.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Thule_Air_Base_B-52_crash>
2011:
Demonstrations in Tirana to protest the alleged corruption of
the Albanian government led to the killings of three demonstrators by
the Republican Guard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Albanian_opposition_demonstrations>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
palinspastic:
(geology, of a map) Showing the previous location of geological
features, correcting for any intervening crustal movements.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/palinspastic>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Ever since I arrived to a state of manhood, I have felt a
sincere passion for liberty. The history of nations doomed to perpetual
slavery, in consequence of yielding up to tyrants their natural born
liberties, I read with a sort of philosophical horror; so that the first
systematical and bloody attempt at Lexington, to enslave America,
thoroughly electrified my mind, and fully determined me to take part
with my country.
--Ethan Allen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ethan_Allen>