The Battle of Sluys was a naval battle fought on 24 June 1340 between
England and France, in the roadstead of the since silted-up port of
Sluys. The English fleet of 120–150 ships was led by Edward III of
England and the 230-strong French fleet by Hugues Quiéret, Admiral of
France, and Nicolas Béhuchet, Constable of France. It was one of the
opening engagements of the Hundred Years' War. Edward sailed on 22 June
and encountered the French the next day; they had bound their ships into
three lines, forming large floating fighting platforms. The English were
able to manoeuvre against the French and defeat them in detail. Most of
the French ships were captured, and they lost 16,000–20,000 men
killed, against 400–600 for the English. The English were unable to
take strategic advantage, barely interrupting French raids on English
territories and shipping. Operationally the battle allowed the English
army to land and to then besiege the French town of Tournai, albeit
unsuccessfully.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sluys>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1314:
In the decisive battle of the First War of Scottish
Independence, Scottish forces led by Robert the Bruce defeated English
troops under Edward II near Bannockburn, Scotland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bannockburn>
1717:
The first Grand Lodge of Freemasonry, the Premier Grand Lodge
of England, was founded in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_Grand_Lodge_of_England>
1940:
Second World War: The British Army carried out Operation
Collar, its first commando raid into German-occupied France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Collar_%28commando_raid%29>
2010:
Julia Gillard was sworn in as the first female prime minister
of Australia after incumbent Kevin Rudd declined to contest a leadership
spill in the Labor Party.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Gillard>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
adynaton:
(rhetoric) A form of hyperbole that uses exaggeration so magnified as to
express impossibility; an instance of such hyperbole.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/adynaton>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let us rejoice, O my Beloved! Let us go forth to see ourselves
in Thy beauty, To the mountain and the hill, Where the pure water
flows: Let us enter into the heart of the thicket.
--John of the Cross
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_of_the_Cross>