The Battle of Bicocca was fought on April 27, 1522, during the Italian
War of 1521–26. A combined French and Venetian force under Odet de
Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec, was decisively defeated by a Spanish-Imperial
and Papal army under the overall command of Prospero Colonna. Lautrec
then withdrew from Lombardy, leaving the Duchy of Milan in Imperial
hands. Having been driven from Milan by an Imperial advance in late
1521, Lautrec had regrouped, attempting to strike at Colonna's lines of
communication. When the Swiss mercenaries in French service did not
receive their pay, however, they demanded an immediate battle, and
Lautrec was forced to attack Colonna's fortified position in the park of
the Arcimboldi Villa Bicocca, north of Milan. The Swiss pikemen advanced
over open fields under heavy artillery fire to assault the Imperial
positions, but were halted at a sunken road backed by earthworks. Having
suffered massive casualties from the fire of Spanish arquebusiers, the
Swiss retreated. Unwilling to fight further, they marched off to their
cantons a few days later, and Lautrec retreated into Venetian territory
with the remnants of his army.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bicocca>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1263:
Scottish–Norwegian War: The armies of Norway and Scotland
fought at the Battle of Largs, an inconclusive engagement near the
present-day town of Largs in North Ayrshire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Largs>
1928:
Spanish priest Josemaría Escrivá founded Opus Dei (logo
pictured), a worldwide organization of the Catholic Church which teaches
that everyone can be a saint.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opus_Dei>
1937:
Under the orders of President Rafael Trujillo, Dominican troops
began mass killings of approximately 20,000 Haitians living in the
Dominican Republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsley_Massacre>
1992:
In response to a prison riot, military police stormed the
Carandiru Penitentiary in São Paulo, Brazil, killing at least 100
prisoners.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carandiru_massacre>
2009:
The Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland was
approved at the second attempt, permitting the state to ratify the
European Union's Treaty of Lisbon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-eighth_Amendment_of_the_Constitution_of_Ireland>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
splurge:
1. To gush, to flow or move in a rush.
2. To spend (usually money) lavishly or extravagantly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/splurge>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Everything is complicated; if that were not so, life and poetry and
everything else would be a bore.
--Wallace Stevens
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wallace_Stevens>