The invasion of Tulagi, on 3–4 May 1942, was part of Operation Mo, the Empire of Japan's strategy in the South Pacific and South West Pacific Area in 1942. The plan called for Imperial Japanese Navy troops to capture Tulagi and nearby islands in the Solomon Islands Protectorate. The occupation of Tulagi by the Japanese was intended to cover the flank of and provide reconnaissance support for Japanese forces that were advancing on Port Moresby in New Guinea, provide greater defensive depth for the major Japanese base at Rabaul, and serve as a base for Japanese forces to threaten and interdict the supply and communication routes between the United States and Australia and New Zealand. Without the means to capably resist the Japanese offensive in the Solomons, the British Resident Commissioner and the few Australian troops assigned to defend Tulagi evacuated just before the Japanese forces arrived on 3 May. Despite considerable losses inflicted by carrier-based American planes, the Japanese occupied the islands.

Read the rest of this article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Tulagi_%28May_1942%29

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1491:

Nkuwu Nzinga of the Kingdom of Kongo was baptised as João I by Portuguese missionaries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_I_of_Kongo

1915:

The oldest continually operational Royal Air Force station, RAF Northolt, opened as the home to No. 4 Reserve Aeroplane Squadron. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Northolt

1920:

Relying on the 11th Soviet Red Army operating in neighboring Azerbaijan, Bolsheviks attempted to stage a coup d'etat in Georgia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920_Georgian_coup_attempt

1945:

Second World War: German ocean liner Cap Arcona, left to float defencelessly in the Bay of Lübeck with thousands of prisoners from various concentration camps on board, was attacked and sunk by RAF Typhoons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Cap_Arcona_%281927%29

1960:

The Off-Broadway musical comedy The Fantasticks made its premiere, eventually becoming the world's longest-running musical. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fantasticks

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

cogitable (adj):

thinkable, conceivable, able to be imagined. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cogitable

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The same energy of character which renders a man a daring villain would have rendered him useful to society, had that society been well organized. --Mary Wollstonecraft

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mary_Wollstonecraft