Operation Uranus was the codename of the Soviet strategic operation in World War II which led to the encirclement of the German Sixth Army, Third and Fourth Romanian armies, and portions of the German Fourth Panzer Army. The operation formed part of the ongoing Battle of Stalingrad, and was aimed at destroying German forces in and around Stalingrad. The Red Army took advantage of the fact that German forces in the southern Soviet Union were overstretched, using weaker Romanian and Italian armies to guard their flanks. At 07:20 (Moscow time) on 19 November 1942 Soviet forces on the northern flank of the Axis forces at Stalingrad began their offensive; forces in the south began on 20 November. Although Romanian units were able to repel the first attacks, by the end of 20 November the Third and Fourth Romanian armies were in headlong retreat, as the Red Army bypassed several German infantry divisions. By late 22 November Soviet forces linked up at the town of Kalach, encircling some 290,000 men east of the Don River. Instead of attempting a breakout operation, German dictator Adolf Hitler instead decided to keep Axis forces in Stalingrad and resupply them by air. In the meantime, Soviet and German commanders began to plan their next movements.
Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Uranus
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
325:
The First Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church, was formally opened in present-day Iznik, Turkey to resolve disagreements in the Church of Alexandria over the nature of Jesus in relationship to God the Father. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea
1293:
Sancho IV, King of Castile and León, established what is now the Complutense University of Madrid, today one of the top public universities in Spain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complutense_University_of_Madrid
1570:
The first modern atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum by cartographer Abraham Ortelius, was issued. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Ortelius
1873:
Clothing manufacturer Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis were granted a patent for using copper rivets to strengthen the pockets of denim overalls, paving the way for their business Levi Strauss & Co. to start manufacturing their first line of blue jeans. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Strauss_%26_Co.
1927:
By the Treaty of Jeddah, the United Kingdom recognized the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud in the Kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd, which later merged to become Saudi Arabia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Saud_of_Saudi_Arabia
2002:
East Timor became the first new sovereign state of the twenty-first century after Indonesia relinquished control of the territory. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Timor
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
voluble (adj): 1. Fluent; having a ready flow of speech; garrulous or loquacious.
2. Easily rolling or turning. 3. (botany) Twisting and turning like a vine http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/voluble
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error. --John Stuart Mill http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill