The Gascon campaign of 1345, part of the Hundred Years' War, was fought between August and November in English-controlled Gascony in south-west France. Henry, Earl of Derby, commanding an Anglo-Gascon force, met a large French force at Bergerac, east of Bordeaux, and decisively defeated it. He moved to besiege the provincial capital of Périgueux, but was threatened by a much larger force commanded by John, Duke of Normandy, the son and heir of the French king. Derby withdrew and left garrisons blockading Périgueux, including one at Auberoche, which the French besieged. He returned with a small force, launched a surprise attack against the greatly superior French, and won another decisive victory, killing or capturing all of the French leaders. This campaign was the first successful English land campaign of the war; morale and prestige swung their way in the border regions of Gascony, providing an influx of taxes and army recruits, and several important regional towns went over to them. (This article is part of a featured topic: Gascon campaign of 1345.) .

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Gascon_campaign_of_1345

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1903:

Aboard the Wright Flyer in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright conducted the first successful flights of a powered fixed-wing aircraft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers

1939:

World War II: After sustaining heavy damage in the Battle of the River Plate two days earlier, the commander of the German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee decided to scuttle the ship rather than allow its capture by British forces. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cruiser_Admiral_Graf_Spee

1989:

The Simpsons, the longest-ever running American prime-time entertainment series, made its debut on the Fox television network with the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons

2009:

The livestock transport ship MV Danny F II capsized and sank in bad weather off the coast of Lebanon, resulting in 43 human and more than 28,000 sheep and cattle deaths. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Danny_F_II

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

nithing: 1. (archaic) A coward, a dastard; a wretch. 2. (archaic) A wicked person; also, one who has acted immorally or unlawfully. 3. (archaic) Cowardly, dastardly. 4. (archaic) Notoriously evil or wicked; infamous. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nithing

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

We must not place the burden on the next generations to take on the problems caused by the previous ones. Instead, we should give them the opportunity to remember our generation as the one that renewed and acted on — with honest, responsible and courageous awareness — the fundamental need to collaborate in order to preserve and cultivate our common home. May we offer the next generation concrete reasons to hope and work for a good and dignified future!   --Pope Francis https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pope_Francis