The naval Battle of Lagos took place between a British fleet commanded by Sir Edward Boscawen and a French fleet under Jean-François de La Clue-Sabran over 18–19 August 1759 during the Seven Years' War. The French Mediterranean Fleet successfully passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, but was sighted by a British ship. The British fleet in Gibraltar was undergoing a major refit and left port amidst great confusion, with many ships delayed and sailing in a second squadron. Aware that he was pursued, La Clue changed course, but half of his ships failed to follow him in the dark. The British caught the French south west of the Gulf of Cádiz, fierce fighting ensued, and one French ship was captured. The British pursued the remaining six French ships overnight and two managed to escape. The four survivors attempted to shelter in neutral Portuguese waters near Lagos, but Boscawen violated that neutrality, capturing two of the ships and destroying the other two.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1590:

John White, governor of the Roanoke Colony, the first English settlement in North America (located in present-day North Carolina), returned after a three-year absence to find it deserted (depicted). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roanoke_Colony

1940:

Second World War: During the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe made an all-out effort to destroy RAF Fighter Command, with both sides combined losing more aircraft on this day than at any other point during the campaign. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hardest_Day

2017:

Two people were killed and eight others wounded when a rejected asylum seeker went on a knife rampage in Turku, Finland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Turku_attack

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

disquisition: 1. (archaic) A methodical inquiry or investigation. 2. A lengthy, formal discourse that analyses or explains some topic; (loosely) a dissertation or treatise. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/disquisition

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The true and best way of learning any Art, is not to see a great many Examples done by another Person, but to possess ones seIf first of the Principles of it, and then to make them familiar, by exercising ones self in the Practice. For it is Practice alone, that makes a Man perfect in any thing.   --Brook Taylor https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Brook_Taylor