The second battle of Cape Finisterre was a naval encounter fought on 25 October 1747 during the War of the Austrian Succession. A British fleet of fourteen ships of the line commanded by Rear-Admiral Edward Hawke (depicted) intercepted a French convoy of 250 merchant ships protected by eight ships of the line commanded by Vice Admiral Henri-François des Herbiers. When the two forces sighted each other, Herbiers attempted to draw the British warships towards him. In this he was successful and the British enveloped the rear of the French line and brought superior numbers to bear on the French vessels one at a time. Six of the French warships were captured, along with 4,000 of their seamen. Of the 250 merchant ships, only 7 were captured. The British victory isolated the French colonies from supply and reinforcement. The war ended the following year and France recovered its colonial losses in return for withdrawing from its gains in the Austrian Netherlands.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1932:

George Lansbury became the leader of the opposition British Labour Party. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lansbury

1950:

The People's Volunteer Army ambushed the South Korean II Corps at the Battle of Onjong, and elsewhere engaged the 1st Infantry Division at the Battle of Unsan, marking China's entry into the Korean War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Unsan

2001:

Windows XP, one of the most popular and widely used versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system, was released for retail sale. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP

2010:

Mount Merapi in Central Java, Indonesia, began an increasingly violent series of eruptions that lasted over a month. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_eruptions_of_Mount_Merapi

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

eponymous: 1. Of, relating to, or being the person or entity after which someone or something is named; serving as an eponym. 2. Of a thing: named after a person or entity. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eponymous

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I am humbled and honoured to have the support of my parliamentary colleagues and to be elected as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party. It is the greatest privilege of my life, to be able to serve the party I love and give back to the country I owe so much to. The United Kingdom is a great country, but there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge. We now need stability and unity and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together. Because that is the only way we will overcome the challenges we face and build a better, more prosperous future for our children and our grandchildren. I pledge that I will serve you with integrity and humility. And I will work day in, day out to deliver for the British people.   --Rishi Sunak https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rishi_Sunak