The second battle of Cape Finisterre was a naval encounter fought on 25
October 1747 during the War of the Austrian Succession. A British fleet
of fourteen ships of the line commanded by Rear-Admiral Edward Hawke
(depicted) intercepted a French convoy of 250 merchant ships protected
by eight ships of the line commanded by Vice Admiral Henri-François des
Herbiers. When the two forces sighted each other, Herbiers attempted to
draw the British warships towards him. In this he was successful and the
British enveloped the rear of the French line and brought superior
numbers to bear on the French vessels one at a time. Six of the French
warships were captured, along with 4,000 of their seamen. Of the 250
merchant ships, only 7 were captured. The British victory isolated the
French colonies from supply and reinforcement. The war ended the
following year and France recovered its colonial losses in return for
withdrawing from its gains in the Austrian Netherlands.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Cape_Finisterre>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1932:
George Lansbury became the leader of the opposition British
Labour Party.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lansbury>
1950:
The People's Volunteer Army ambushed the South Korean II Corps
at the Battle of Onjong, and elsewhere engaged the 1st Infantry Division
at the Battle of Unsan, marking China's entry into the Korean War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Unsan>
2001:
Windows XP, one of the most popular and widely used versions of
the Microsoft Windows operating system, was released for retail sale.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP>
2010:
Mount Merapi in Central Java, Indonesia, began an increasingly
violent series of eruptions that lasted over a month.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_eruptions_of_Mount_Merapi>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
eponymous:
1. Of, relating to, or being the person or entity after which someone or
something is named; serving as an eponym.
2. Of a thing: named after a person or entity.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eponymous>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am humbled and honoured to have the support of my parliamentary
colleagues and to be elected as leader of the Conservative and Unionist
Party. It is the greatest privilege of my life, to be able to serve the
party I love and give back to the country I owe so much to. The United
Kingdom is a great country, but there is no doubt we face a profound
economic challenge. We now need stability and unity and I will make it
my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together. Because
that is the only way we will overcome the challenges we face and build a
better, more prosperous future for our children and our grandchildren.
I pledge that I will serve you with integrity and humility. And I will
work day in, day out to deliver for the British people.
--Rishi Sunak
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rishi_Sunak>