The Battle for Henderson Field (23–26 October 1942) on Guadalcanal in
the Solomon Islands was the third of three land offensives conducted by
the Japanese during the Guadalcanal campaign of World War II. U.S. Army
and Marine forces under Major General Alexander Vandegrift defended
Henderson Field against attacks by the Japanese 17th Army under
Lieutenant General Harukichi Hyakutake (pictured). Hyakutake's mission
was to recapture the airfield from the Allies and drive them off the
island. Numerous assaults over three days were repulsed with heavy
Japanese losses, and Allied aircraft operating from the airfield
successfully defended U.S. positions from attacks by Japanese naval air
and sea forces. After a failed attempt to deliver reinforcements in
November, Japan conceded the island and successfully evacuated many of
its remaining forces in February.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_for_Henderson_Field>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1850:
The first National Women's Rights Convention, presided over by
Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis, began in Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Women%27s_Rights_Convention>
1934:
Jeannette Piccard piloted a hot-air balloon flight that reached
57,579 feet (17,550 m), and became the first woman to fly in the
stratosphere.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeannette_Piccard>
1983:
Lebanese Civil War: Suicide bombers destroyed two barracks in
Beirut, killing 241 U.S. servicemen, 58 French paratroopers of the
international peacekeeping force, and 6 civilians.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Beirut_barracks_bombings>
2002:
Chechen separatists seized a crowded theater in Moscow, taking
approximately 700 patrons and performers hostage, at least 130 of whom
were later killed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_theater_hostage_crisis>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
daft:
1. (chiefly Britain, informal) Foolish, silly, stupid.
2. Crazy, insane, mad.
3. (obsolete) Gentle, meek, mild.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/daft>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The purpose of the I Ching or the tarot … is to help you get
access to yourself, by providing ambiguity for you to interpret. And
this quality of ambiguity is shared with nearly all forms of divination
— cast artifacts, or entrails, or weather formations, or events such
as the flight of birds, that one could choose either to see as "omens"
or to ignore. The very thing that makes these divination techniques
seem so unscientific is what makes it possible for them to work.
--Travels
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Travels_%28book%29>