The Siege of Aiguillon commenced on 1 April 1346 during the Hundred Years' War, when a French army commanded by John, Duke of Normandy, laid siege to the Gascon town of Aiguillon. The town, with strategic command of the rivers Garonne and Lot, was defended by Anglo-Gascon forces under Ralph, Earl of Stafford. The garrison, some 900 men, sortied repeatedly to interrupt the French operations, while Henry, Earl of Lancaster, concentrated the main Anglo-Gascon force at La Réole as a threat. Duke John, the son and heir of Philip VI, was never able to fully blockade the town. By August, the seriously harassed French supply lines had broken down, there was a dysentery epidemic in their camp, desertion was rife, and Philip was demanding that John's force join up with the main French army. On 20 August the French abandoned the siege and marched away. Six days later Philip's army was decisively beaten by the main English army in the Battle of Crécy, two weeks before John's force arrived in the north.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Aiguillon

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1865:

American Civil War: The Union Army inflicted over 1,000 casualties on the Confederates led by George Pickett and took between 2,400 and 4,000 prisoners in the Battle of Five Forks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Five_Forks

1947:

The main mutiny in a series of mutinies of the Royal New Zealand Navy began. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1947_Royal_New_Zealand_Navy_mutinies

1969:

The Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first operational fighter aircraft with vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) capabilities, entered service with the Royal Air Force. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Siddeley_Harrier

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

couth: 1. (obsolete) Familiar, known; well-known, renowned. 2. (Scotland) Variant of couthie. 3. Agreeable, friendly, pleasant. 4. Comfortable; cosy, snug. […] 5. Marked by or possessing a high degree of sophistication; cultured, refined. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/couth

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

There's not a thing on Earth, that I can name, So foolish, and so false, as common fame. It calls the courtier knave, the plain man rude, Haughty the grave, and the delightful lewd, Impertinent the brisk, morose the sad, Mean the familiar, the reserv'd-one mad.   --John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Wilmot,_2nd_Earl_of_Rochester