The Battle for Henderson Field (23–26 October 1942) on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands was the third of three land offensives conducted by the Japanese during the Guadalcanal campaign of World War II. U.S. Army and Marine forces under Major General Alexander Vandegrift defended Henderson Field against attacks by the Japanese 17th Army under Lieutenant General Harukichi Hyakutake (pictured). Hyakutake's mission was to recapture the airfield from the Allies and drive them off the island. Numerous assaults over three days were repulsed with heavy Japanese losses, and Allied aircraft operating from the airfield successfully defended U.S. positions from attacks by Japanese naval air and sea forces. After a failed attempt to deliver reinforcements in November, Japan conceded the island and successfully evacuated many of its remaining forces in February.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1850:

The first National Women's Rights Convention, presided over by Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis, began in Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Women%27s_Rights_Convention

1934:

Jeannette Piccard piloted a hot-air balloon flight that reached 57,579 feet (17,550 m), and became the first woman to fly in the stratosphere. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeannette_Piccard

1983:

Lebanese Civil War: Suicide bombers destroyed two barracks in Beirut, killing 241 U.S. servicemen, 58 French paratroopers of the international peacekeeping force, and 6 civilians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Beirut_barracks_bombings

2002:

Chechen separatists seized a crowded theater in Moscow, taking approximately 700 patrons and performers hostage, at least 130 of whom were later killed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_theater_hostage_crisis

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

daft: 1. (chiefly Britain, informal) Foolish, silly, stupid. 2. Crazy, insane, mad. 3. (obsolete) Gentle, meek, mild. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/daft

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The purpose of the I Ching or the tarot … is to help you get access to yourself, by providing ambiguity for you to interpret. And this quality of ambiguity is shared with nearly all forms of divination — cast artifacts, or entrails, or weather formations, or events such as the flight of birds, that one could choose either to see as "omens" or to ignore. The very thing that makes these divination techniques seem so unscientific is what makes it possible for them to work.   --Travels https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Travels_%28book%29