The Battle of Midway was a pivotal naval battle in the Pacific Theater
of World War II. It took place from June 4 to June 7, 1942,
approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, and six
months after the Empire of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor that had led
to a formal state of war between the United States and Japan. During
the battle, the United States Navy defeated a Japanese attack against
Midway Atoll (located northwest of Hawaii) and destroyed four Japanese
aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser while losing a carrier and a
destroyer. The battle was a crushing defeat for the Japanese and is
widely regarded as the most important naval battle of World War II.
The battle permanently weakened the Japanese Navy, particularly
through the loss of over 200 naval aviators. Strategically, the U.S.
Navy was able to seize the initiative in the Pacific and go on the
offensive.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Midway
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1099:
Members of the First Crusade reached Jerusalem and began a five-week
siege of the city.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(1099))
1494:
Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, dividing the
newly discovered lands of the Americas and Africa between the two
countries.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Tordesillas)
1905:
The Norwegian parliament dissolved the Union between Sweden and
Norway.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_between_Sweden_and_Norway)
1940:
King Haakon VII of Norway, Crown Prince Olav, and the Norwegian
government left Tromsø for exile in London, following the World War II
German invasion.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haakon_VII_of_Norway)
1948:
Rather than sign a Constitution making his nation a Communist state,
Edvard Beneš chose to resign as President of Czechoslovakia.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edvard_Benes)
1981:
The Israeli Air Force attacked and disabled Iraq's Osirak nuclear
reactor.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Opera)
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Wikiquote of the day:
Exhaust the little moment. Soon it dies. And be it gash or gold it
will not come Again in this identical guise. -- Gwendolyn Brooks
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gwendolyn_Brooks)