Grant's Canal was a military project to construct a canal through a bend
in the Mississippi River opposite Vicksburg, Mississippi, during the
American Civil War. Control of Vicksburg and the Mississippi was
considered crucial by both the Union and the Confederacy. In
June 1862, Union officer Thomas Williams was sent to De Soto Point with
his men to dig a canal to bypass the strong Confederate defenses around
Vicksburg. Disease and falling river levels prevented completion, and
the project was abandoned until January 1863, when Ulysses S. Grant
took an interest. The upstream entrance of the canal was moved, but
heavy rains and flooding interfered with the project. Work was
abandoned in March, and Grant eventually used other methods to capture
Vicksburg. In 1876, the Mississippi changed course, cutting across De
Soto Point near the route of the old canal and isolating Vicksburg from
the river. The city's river access has since been restored. Only a
small section of the canal survives.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant%27s_Canal>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1823:
Sailor Benjamin Morrell erroneously reported the existence of
the island of New South Greenland near Antarctica.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Greenland>
1916:
Six days after Pancho Villa and his cross-border raiders
attacked Columbus, New Mexico, U.S. General John J. Pershing led a
punitive expedition into Mexico to pursue Villa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Villa_Expedition>
1917:
Russian Revolution: Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate in
the February Revolution, ending three centuries of Romanov rule.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_Revolution>
1943:
The deportation of 50,000 Jews from the Greek city of
Thessaloniki began.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_Greece>
1951:
The Iranian oil industry was nationalized in a movement led by
Mohammad Mosaddegh.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalization_of_the_Iranian_oil_industry>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
galamander:
(Maine, mining, historical) A customized horse- or ox-drawn stoneboat or
wagon once used for hauling stone from quarries, with smaller front
wheels and larger rear ones, and a derrick to lift blocks of stone on
and off the vehicle.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/galamander>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a
woman's life, to her well-being and dignity. It is a decision she must
make for herself. When Government controls that decision for her, she is
being treated as less than a fully adult human responsible for her own
choices.
--Ruth Bader Ginsburg
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ruth_Bader_Ginsburg>