The 2nd Red Banner Army was a Soviet field army of World War II that was formed at Khabarovsk in the Soviet Far East in July 1938. It spent most of the war guarding the border in the Blagoveshchensk area, sending formations to the Eastern Front while undergoing several reorganizations. At the time of its creation, the unit was part of the army group known as the Far Eastern Front. The unit was designated as the 2nd Army and was led by corps commander Ivan Konev (pictured). It became the 2nd Independent Red Banner Army in September 1938 when the front was dissolved and its troops were split into two independent armies, and was redesignated in June 1940 as the 2nd Red Banner Army. In August 1945, the army fought in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, capturing the Japanese fortified regions of Aihun and Sunwu adjacent to its sector of the border, and advancing into Manchuria to Qiqihar. The army was disbanded after the war in late 1945.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_Red_Banner_Army
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1862:
American Civil War: After nearly being driven from the field in the early part of the Battle of Cedar Mountain, Confederate troops counter-attacked and achieved a victory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cedar_Mountain
1942:
World War II: In the first major naval engagement of the Guadalcanal campaign, Japan forced the U.S. Navy to withdraw from the Solomon Islands. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Savo_Island
1960:
The unrecognized region of South Kasai seceded from the former Republic of the Congo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Kasai
2006:
British police arrested 24 people for conspiring to detonate liquid explosives carried on board airliners travelling from the UK to the US and Canada. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_transatlantic_aircraft_plot
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
merlion: 1. An imaginary creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. 2. (Singapore, specifically) Often Merlion: such a creature which is one of the national symbols of Singapore; a depiction of this creature. [...] 3. (heraldry) A depiction of a bird similar to a house martin or swallow with stylized feet; a martlet. 4. (rare) Alternative form of merlin (“a small falcon, Falco columbarius”). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/merlion
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Look to your health; and if you have it, praise God, and value it next to a good conscience; for health is the second blessing that we mortals are capable of; a blessing that money cannot buy. --Izaak Walton https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Izaak_Walton