100px|The first wave of US troops lands on Los Negros, Admiralty Islands, 29 February 1944
The Admiralty Islands campaign was a series of battles in the New Guinea campaign of World War II in which the United States Army's 1st Cavalry Division occupied the Japanese-held Admiralty Islands. Acting on reports from airmen that there were no signs of enemy activity and the islands may have been evacuated, General Douglas MacArthur accelerated his timetable for capturing the islands and ordered an immediate reconnaissance in force. The campaign began on 29 February 1944 when a force landed on Los Negros, the third largest island in the group. By using a small, isolated beach where the Japanese had not anticipated an assault, the force achieved tactical surprise, but the islands proved to be far from unoccupied. A furious battle developed for control of the Admiralties. In the end, air superiority and command of the sea allowed the Allies to heavily reinforce their position on Los Negros. The 1st Cavalry Division was then able to overrun the islands. The campaign officially ended on 18 May 1944. The Allied victory completed the isolation of the major Japanese base at Rabaul that was the ultimate objective of the Allied campaigns of 1942 and 1943. A major air and naval base was developed in the Admiralty Islands that became an important launching point for the campaigns of 1944 in the Pacific. (more...)
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1484:
William Caxton printed the first English translation of Aesop's Fables. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesop%27s_Fables
1913:
First Balkan War: After a five-month siege, the Bulgarian Second Army captured the Ottoman city of Adrianople. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Adrianople_%281913%29
1939:
Spanish Civil War: Nationalists began their final offensive of the war, at the end of which they controlled almost the entire country. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_offensive_of_the_Spanish_Civil_War
1978:
Four days before the scheduled opening of Japan's Narita International Airport , a group of protesters destroyed much of the equipment in the control tower with Molotov cocktails. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narita_International_Airport
1997:
Police in Rancho Santa Fe, California, discovered the bodies of 39 members of Heaven's Gate who had died in an apparent cult suicide. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven%27s_Gate_%28religious_group%29
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
immolate (v): 1. To kill as a sacrifice. 2. To destroy, especially by fire http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/immolate
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
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33px 123px 33px In the Name of Allah the Merciful, the Compassionate, Who manifests Himself through everything, the revelation of a clear knowing to whomsoever He wishes, peace be upon you, my son. This praise belongs to Allah Who manifests Himself on the head of a pin to whom He wishes, so that one testifies that He is not, and another testifies that there is none other than He. But the witnessing in the denying of Him is not rejected, and the witnessing in the affirming of Him is not praised. --Mansur Al-Hallaj http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mansur_Al-Hallaj