The Battle of Panormus was fought on Sicily in 250 BC during the First Punic War between a Roman army led by Lucius Caecilius Metellus and a Carthaginian force led by Hasdrubal. The Romans captured the major Sicilian city of Panormus in 254 BC. Thereafter they avoided battle for fear of the Carthaginian war elephants. In 250 BC Hasdrubal led out his army to devastate the crops of Rome's allied cities. The Romans withdrew to Panormus and Hasdrubal pressed on to the city walls. Once he arrived, Metellus countered the elephants with a hail of javelins from earthworks dug near the walls. Infuriated by this missile fire, the elephants fled through the Carthaginian infantry. The Roman infantry then charged the Carthaginian left flank, which broke, along with the rest of the Carthaginians. The elephants were captured and later slaughtered in the Circus Maximus (commemorative coin pictured). This was the last significant land battle of the war, which ended nine years later in a Roman victory.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Panormus
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1871:
Thespis, the first comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, premiered at the Gaiety Theatre in London. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thespis_%28opera%29
1946:
American gangster Bugsy Siegel opened The Flamingo Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, the oldest casino still in operation on the Las Vegas Strip. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamingo_Las_Vegas
1996:
The Federation of Korean Trade Unions called on its 1.2 million members to refuse to work, beginning the largest organized strike in South Korean history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996%E2%80%931997_strikes_in_South_Korea
2006:
Two earthquakes occurring off the southwest coast of Taiwan damaged submarine communications cables, disrupting Internet services in Asia and seriously affecting financial transactions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Hengchun_earthquakes
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
take the gilt off the gingerbread: (idiomatic) To take away the most attractive or appealing qualities of something; to destroy an illusion. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/take_the_gilt_off_the_gingerbread
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The fight for ideals can no longer take the form of fight between nations, because the lines of division on moral questions are within the nations themselves and intersect the political frontiers. --Norman Angell https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Norman_Angell