The bombing of Tokyo during the early hours of 10 March 1945 by the U.S. Army Air Forces was a devastating firebombing raid on the Japanese capital city. Bombs dropped from 279 Boeing B-29 Superfortresses burned out much of eastern Tokyo. More than 90,000 Japanese, mostly civilians, were killed and one million left homeless, making it the single most destructive air attack of World War II. The Japanese air and civil defenses proved inadequate, and only 14 American aircraft and 96 airmen were lost. The previous, generally unsuccessful, air raids on Japan had focused on industrial facilities. This was the first major firebombing raid against a Japanese city, and the tactics used became a standard part of the American strategic bombing campaign until the end of the war. The attack is commemorated at two official memorials, several neighborhood memorials and a privately run museum.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Tokyo_%2810_March_1945%29
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1916:
The last in a series of letters was written, agreeing that Britain would recognise Arab independence in return for the Sharif of Mecca launching a revolt against the Ottoman Empire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMahon%E2%80%93Hussein_Correspondence
1959:
An anti-Chinese uprising erupted in Lhasa, as thousands of Tibetans surrounded the Potala Palace to prevent the Dalai Lama from leaving or being removed by the Chinese army. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1959_Tibetan_uprising
1967:
British progressive-rock band Pink Floyd released their first single, "Arnold Layne". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Floyd
1977:
Astronomers using NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory discovered a faint ring system around Uranus. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Uranus
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
audiation: (music) The comprehension and internal realization of music by an individual in the absence of any physical sound. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/audiation
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Search not to find how other men offend, But by that glass thy own offences mend; Still seek to learn, yet care not much from whom, (So it be learning) or from whence it come. Of thy own actions, others' judgments learn; Often by small, great matters we discern: Youth what man's age is like to be doth show; We may our ends by our beginnings know. --John Denham https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Denham