The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a First World War battle in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France between four divisions of the Canadian Corps and three divisions of the German Sixth Army. It lasted from 9 to 12 April 1917, as part of the opening phase of the British-led Battle of Arras, a diversionary attack for the French Nivelle Offensive. The Canadian objective was to take the German-held high ground along an escarpment at the northern end of the offensive. Supported by a creeping barrage, the Canadians captured most of the ridge on 9 April. The town of Thélus fell on the 10th, as did the crest of the ridge once the Canadians overcame a salient of considerable German resistance. The final objective, a fortified knoll near Givenchy-en-Gohelle, fell to the Canadians on 12 April, and the Germans retreated to the Oppy–Méricourt line. Canadian success is attributed to technical and tactical innovations, meticulous planning and training, and powerful artillery support, and the failure of the Germans to properly apply their new defensive doctrine. For the first time all four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force fought together and the battle remains a Canadian symbol of achievement and sacrifice; the battleground now contains the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1413:
Henry V, who is featured in three plays by William Shakespeare, was crowned King of England. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_V_of_England
1860:
On his phonautograph machine, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville made the oldest known recording of an audible human voice, when he recorded himself singing the French folk song "Au Clair de la Lune". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard-L%C3%A9on_Scott_de_Martinville
1939:
After being denied permission to perform at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution, African American singer Marian Anderson gave an open-air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Anderson
1942:
World War II: Japanese forces defeated Allied troops at the Battle of Bataan on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines before beginning to forcibly transfer more than 90,000 prisoners of war to prison camps in the Bataan Death March. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bataan_Death_March
1967:
The first Boeing 737 took its maiden flight, eventually becoming the most ordered and produced commercial passenger jet airliner in the world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
unheralded (v): Without prior warning; unexpected or unannounced http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unheralded
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Wisdom entereth not into a malicious mind, and science without conscience is but the ruin of the soul. --François Rabelais http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Rabelais