120px|The Battle of Valcour Island
The naval Battle of Valcour Island took place on October 11, 1776, on
Lake Champlain. The battle is generally regarded as one of the first
naval battles of the American Revolutionary War, and one of the first
fought by the United States Navy. The Continental Army had retreated
from Quebec to Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point in June 1776 after
British forces were massively reinforced. They spent the summer of 1776
fortifying those forts, and building additional ships to augment the
small American fleet already on the lake. British General Guy Carleton
had a 9,000-man army at Fort Saint-Jean, but needed to build a fleet to
carry it on the lake. By early October, the British fleet, which
significantly outgunned the American fleet, was ready for launch. On
October 11, Arnold drew the British fleet to the strait between Valcour
Island and the western shore, a position he had carefully chosen to
limit British advantages. In the battle that followed, many of the
American ships were damaged or destroyed. That night, Arnold snuck the
American fleet past the British one, beginning a retreat toward Crown
Point and Ticonderoga. Unfavorable weather hampered the American
retreat, and more of the fleet was either captured or grounded and
burned before it could reach Crown Point. Upon reaching Crown Point
Arnold had the fort's buildings burned and retreated to Ticonderoga.
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1531:
Huldrych Zwingli, a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, was
killed in battle in the Second War of Kappel.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huldrych_Zwingli>
1634:
A storm tide on the coast of North Frisia caused a massive flood that
killed at least 8,000 people and split the island of Strand into three
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burchardi_flood>
1852:
The University of Sydney , Australia's oldest university, was
inaugurated in Sydney two years after the New South Wales Legislative
Council established it with the passage of the University of Sydney
Act.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Sydney>
1941:
Armed insurgents from the People's Liberation Army of Macedonia
attacked Axis occupied zones in the city of Prilep, beginning the
National Liberation War of Macedonia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Liberation_War_of_Macedonia>
1942:
World War II: At the Battle of Cape Esperance on the northwest coast of
Guadalcanal, American ships intercepted and defeated a Japanese fleet
on their way to reinforce troops on the island.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cape_Esperance>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
microcosm (n):
1. A smaller system which is representative of or analogous to a larger
one.
2. (archaic) A small, complete world
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/microcosm>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Do what you feel in your heart to be right — for you'll be criticized
anyway. You'll be "damned if you do, and damned if you don't."
--Eleanor Roosevelt
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eleanor_Roosevelt>
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