The 1759 Battle of Ticonderoga was a tactically minor confrontation at Fort Carillon (now known as Fort Ticonderoga) on July 26 and 27, 1759, during the French and Indian War (the North American theater of the Seven Years' War). A British military force of more than 11,000 men under the command of General Sir Jeffrey Amherst moved artillery to high ground overlooking the fort, which was defended by a garrison of 400 Frenchmen under the command of Brigadier General François-Charles de Bourlamaque. Rather than defend the fort, Bourlamaque, operating under instructions from General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm and New France's governor, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, withdrew his forces, and attempted to blow the fort up. The fort's powder magazine was destroyed, but its walls were not severely damaged. The British then occupied the fort, which was afterwards known by the name Fort Ticonderoga, and embarked on a series of improvements to the area and the construction of a fleet to conduct military operations on Lake Champlain.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ticonderoga_%281759%29

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

811:

Bulgarian forces led by Khan Krum defeated the Byzantines at the Battle of Pliska, annihilating almost the whole army and killing Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros I. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pliska

1822:

José de San Martín met with Simón Bolívar in Guayaquil to plan for the future of Peru and South America in general. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guayaquil_conference

1882:

Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal premiered at the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth, Germany. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsifal

1908:

Unable to use the services of U.S. Secret Service agents as investigators because of a federal law, U.S. Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte established what is now known as the Federal Bureau of Investigation to organize his own staff of special agents. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation

1963:

A 6.1 Mw earthquake struck Skopje, SR Macedonia, killing over 1,000 people, injuring over 3,000 more, and leaving between 120,000 to 200,000 people homeless. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_Skopje_earthquake

1999:

Kashmir conflict: Fighting in the Kargil War ended after Indian troops cleared the Drass subsector of Pakistani forces. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kargil_War

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

dulcet (adj): 1. Sweet, especially when describing voice or tones; melodious. 2. Generally pleasing; agreeable http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dulcet

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

We should not pretend to understand the world only by the intellect; we apprehend it just as much by feeling. Therefore, the judgment of the intellect is, at best, only the half of truth, and must, if it be honest, also come to an understanding of its inadequacy. --Carl Jung http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Jung