Lancaster's chevauchée of 1346 was a large-scale mounted raid directed by Henry, Earl of Lancaster, in south western France during the Hundred Years' War. The main English army had defeated the larger French army at the Battle of Crécy in August, and French defences in the south west were left weak and disorganised. Lancaster took advantage by leading a raid between 12 September and 31 October 1346 while sending other forces into Quercy and the Bazadais. All three offensives were successful, with Lancaster's chevauchée, of approximately 2,000 English and Gascon soldiers, meeting no effective resistance from the French, penetrating 160 miles (260 kilometres) north and storming the rich city of Poitiers. His force then razed and looted large areas of Saintonge, Aunis and Poitou, capturing numerous towns, castles and smaller fortified places as they went. The offensives completely disrupted the French defences and shifted the focus of the fighting.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancaster%27s_chevauch%C3%A9e_of_1346
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1848:
Switzerland became a federal state with the adoption of a new constitution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland
1942:
RMS Laconia was sunk by a U-boat off the coast of West Africa, which then attempted to rescue the passengers as it was acting under the old prize rules. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laconia_incident
1962:
At Rice Stadium in Houston, U.S. president John F. Kennedy made a speech later known by the line "We choose to go to the Moon" (video featured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_choose_to_go_to_the_Moon
2015:
An explosion involving illegally stored mining detonators in Petlawad, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, killed 104 people and injured more than 150 others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petlawad_explosion
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
connive: 1. (intransitive) Often followed by with: to secretly cooperate with another person or persons in order to commit a crime or other wrongdoing; to collude, to conspire. 2. (intransitive, botany, rare) Of parts of a plant: to be converging or in close contact; to be connivent. 3. (intransitive, obsolete) Often followed by at: to pretend to be ignorant of something in order to escape blame; to ignore or overlook a fault deliberately. 4. (intransitive, obsolete) To open and close the eyes rapidly; to wink. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/connive
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Clarity of thought is a shining point in a vast expanse of unrelieved darkness. Genius is not so much a light as it is a constant awareness of the surrounding gloom, and its typical cowardice is to bathe in its own glow and avoid, as much as possible, looking out beyond its boundary. No matter how much genuine strength it may contain, there is also, inevitably, a considerable part that is only the pretense of that strength. --Stanisław Lem https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_Lem