The Battle of Settepozzi was fought in 1263 off the Greek island of
Spetses between a Genoese–Byzantine fleet and a Venetian fleet
(Venetian galley pictured). Genoa had been engaged in the War of Saint
Sabas against Venice since 1256, and had been allied with the Byzantines
since the Treaty of Nymphaeum in 1261. In 1263, 48 Genoese ships, en
route to the Byzantine stronghold of Monemvasia, encountered 32 Venetian
ships. A Genoese chronicle states that only two of the four admirals of
the Genoese fleet and 14 of its ships took part in the attack, and were
easily routed by the Venetians, who captured four vessels, including
both flagships, and inflicted considerable casualties. The Venetian
victory, and the demonstration of Genoese reluctance to confront them,
had important political repercussions, as the Byzantines began to
distance themselves from their alliance with Genoa and restored their
relations with Venice, signing a five-year non-aggression pact in 1268.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Settepozzi>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1914:
World War I: The Royal Navy dreadnought HMS Audacious was
sunk by a mine, but its loss was kept secret for four years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Audacious_%281912%29>
1946:
Inter-religious riots in which Hindu mobs targeted Muslim
families began in the Indian state of Bihar, resulting in 2,000 to
30,000 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946_Bihar_riots>
1967:
American Catholic priest Philip Berrigan led a protest against
the Vietnam War by pouring blood over Selective Service records in
Baltimore, Maryland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Berrigan>
1993:
Widerøe Flight 744 conducted a controlled flight into terrain
on approach to Namsos Airport, Norway, killing two crew members and four
passengers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wider%C3%B8e_Flight_744>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
punch dialogue:
(South India) Chiefly in a film: a retort or a witty line, commonly
written to be spoken by the protagonist to excite fans of the actor
delivering them.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/punch_dialogue>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
There are good citizens and bad citizens in every class as in
every locality, and the attitude of decent people toward great public
and social questions should be determined, not by the accidental
questions of employment or locality, but by those deep-set principles
which represent the innermost souls of men.
--Theodore Roosevelt
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt>