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>
Show replies by date