Operation Copperhead was a small military deception operation run by the British during the Second World War. Conceived by Dudley Clarke, it was intended to mislead German intelligence as to the location of General Bernard Montgomery (pictured) just before the 1944 invasion of Normandy. The German high command expected Montgomery, one of the best-known Allied commanders, to play a key role in any cross-channel bridgehead. Clarke and the other deception planners reasoned that a high-profile appearance outside England would suggest that an Allied invasion was not imminent. An appropriate look-alike was found, M. E. Clifton James, who spent a short time with Montgomery to familiarise himself with the general's mannerisms. On 26 May, James flew to Gibraltar and then to Algiers, making appearances where the Allies knew German intelligence agents would spot him, but the operation did not appear to have any significant impact on German plans. James later wrote a book about the operation, I Was Monty's Double, which was adapted into a film, with James in the lead role.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

240 BC:

The Chinese chronicle Records of the Grand Historian recorded the first confirmed sighting of Halley's Comet, the first comet to be recognized as periodic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halley%27s_Comet

1878:

Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore opened at the Opera Comique in London. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.M.S._Pinafore

1936:

Employees of the Remington Rand company began an 11-month strike action, during which time the company executives developed the notorious "Mohawk Valley formula" to intimidate the strikers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remington_Rand_strike_of_1936%E2%80%9337

1946:

Abdullah bin Husayn, Emir of the Emirate of Transjordan, was proclaimed King of the renamed "Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_I_of_Jordan

2012:

SpaceX's Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to rendezvous with the International Space Station. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_C2%2B

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

giant-killer: Someone or something, especially a sports team, that defeats a larger and superior opponent. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/giant-killer

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I have been writing & speaking what were once called novelties, for twenty five or thirty year, & have not now one disciple. Why? Not that what I said was not true; not that it has not found intelligent receivers but because it did not go from any wish in me to bring men to me, but to themselves.   --Ralph Waldo Emerson https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson