The Battle of Edson's Ridge was a land battle of the Pacific campaign
of World War II between Imperial Japanese Army and Allied (mainly
United States Marine Corps) ground forces. The battle took place
September 12–14, 1942 on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, and was
the second of three separate major Japanese ground offensives during
the Guadalcanal campaign. In the battle, U.S. Marines, under the
overall command of U.S. Major General Alexander Vandegrift, repulsed an
attack by the Japanese 35th Infantry Brigade, under the command of
Japanese Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi. The Marines were defending
the Lunga perimeter that guarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, which
was captured from the Japanese by the Allies in landings on Guadalcanal
on August 7, 1942. Kawaguchi's unit was sent to Guadalcanal in response
to the Allied landings with the mission of recapturing the airfield and
driving the Allied forces from the island. The main Japanese assault
occurred around Lunga ridge south of Henderson Field that was manned by
troops from several U.S. Marine Corps units, primarily troops from the
1st Raider and 1st Parachute Battalions under U.S. Marine Corps
Lieutenant Colonel Merritt A. Edson. Although the Marine defenses were
almost overrun, Kawaguchi's attack was ultimately defeated with heavy
losses for the Japanese attackers.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Edson%27s_Ridge>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1609:
While sailing aboard the Halve Maen, English explorer Henry Hudson
began his exploration of the Hudson River, laying the foundation for
Dutch colonization of present-day New York.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hudson>
1683:
Great Turkish War: Polish troops led by John III Sobieski joined
forces with a Habsburg army to defeat the Ottoman Empire at the Battle
of Vienna.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna>
1848:
Switzerland became a federal state with the adoption of a new
constitution.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland>
1940:
Four teenagers discovered the Lascaux caves near Montignac, in the
Dordogne département of France, containing cave paintings that are
estimated to be 16,000 years old.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascaux>
1974:
Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, considered to be the religious
symbol for God incarnate among the Rastafari movement, was deposed in a
coup d'état by the Derg, a military junta.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haile_Selassie_I_of_Ethiopia>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
tight as a tick (adj):
1. Drunk, inebriated.
2. Fully inflated; swollen near to bursting.
3. Unwilling to spend
money
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tight_as_a_tick>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
If man had more of a sense of humor, things might have turned out
differently.
--Stanisław Lem
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_Lem>