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>
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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>
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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>
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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>