The Battle of the Tenaru was a land battle between the Imperial Japanese Army and Allied forces on August 21, 1942, at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands during World War II. The U.S. Marines were defending the Lunga perimeter around Henderson Field, which had been captured by the Allies on August 7. The Japanese unit, commanded by Kiyonao Ichiki (pictured), was sent to recapture the airfield and drive the Allied forces off the island. Underestimating the strength of the Allied forces, Ichiki's unit conducted a nighttime frontal assault on Marine positions at Alligator Creek on the east side of the perimeter and were defeated with heavy losses. The Marines counterattacked after daybreak, and about 800 of Ichiki's original 917 men were killed. After Tenaru, the Japanese realized that Allied forces on Guadalcanal were much greater in number than originally estimated and sent larger forces for their later attempts to retake Henderson Field. (This article is part of a featured topic: Guadalcanal Campaign.).
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Guadalcanal_Campaign
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1789:
The national colours of Italy first appeared on a tricolour cockade in Genoa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockade_of_Italy
1944:
World War II: A combined Canadian–Polish force captured the town of of Falaise, France, in the final offensive of the Battle of Normandy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tractable
1963:
South Vietnamese special forces loyal to Ngô Đình Nhu, the brother of President Ngô Đình Diệm, raided and vandalised Buddhist pagodas (one pictured) across the country, arresting thousands and leaving hundreds dead. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X%C3%A1_L%E1%BB%A3i_Pagoda_raids
2015:
Passengers on a Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris confronted and subdued an attacker who attempted a mass shooting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Thalys_train_attack
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
berserk: 1. Furiously, injuriously, or maniacally violent or out of control. 2. (by extension) 3. Bizarre; weird. 4. Wildly joyous; ecstatic. 5. (historical) Synonym of berserker (“a Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy”) https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/berserk
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The necessary had been accomplished. That’s the way Les Invisibles work. Singular, unquantifiable events. Impossible to treat statistically, to define with theory. --Lucius Shepard https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lucius_Shepard
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