The Battle of Vrbanja Bridge occurred on 27 May 1995 between United Nations peacekeepers from the French Army and elements of the Bosnian Serb–aligned Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). It began after the VRS seized French-manned observation posts of the United Nations Protection Force at both ends of the Vrbanja Bridge in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War, taking twelve French peacekeepers hostage. Two of them remained held at the bridge as human shields. A platoon of 30 French peacekeepers, led by then-Captain François Lecointre, recaptured the bridge with the support of 70 French infantrymen and direct fire from armoured vehicles. Two French soldiers were killed and seventeen were wounded during the battle. VRS casualties were four killed, several wounded and four captured. VRS forces were subsequently less likely to engage French UN peacekeepers deployed in the city. In 2017, Lecointre was appointed Chief of the Defence Staff of France with the rank of army general.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1799:

War of the Second Coalition: Austrian forces defeated the French Army of the Danube, capturing the strategically important Swiss town of Winterthur. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Winterthur

1917:

Pope Benedict XV promulgated the Pio-Benedictine Code, the first official comprehensive codification of Latin canon law. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1917_Code_of_Canon_Law

1962:

A fire at a landfill in Centralia, Pennsylvania, spread to an abandoned coal mine, where it continues burning today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia_mine_fire

2006:

An earthquake registering 6.4 Mw struck near the city of Yogyakarta on the southern side of the Indonesian island of Java, killing more than 5,700 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Yogyakarta_earthquake

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

gouge: 1. (transitive) To make a groove, hole, or mark in by scooping with or as if with a gouge. 2. (transitive) To cheat or impose upon; in particular, to charge an unfairly or unreasonably high price. 3. (transitive, intransitive) To dig or scoop (something) out with or as if with a gouge; in particular, to use a thumb to push or try to push the eye (of a person) out of its socket. 4. (intransitive) To use a gouge. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gouge

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

In light of the recent events in Texas, I have decided it would be disrespectful and hurtful for me to perform for the NRA at their convention in Houston this week. I’m sure all the folks planning to attend this event are shocked and sickened by these events as well. After all, we are all Americans. I share the sorrow for this terrible, cruel loss with the rest of the nation.   --Don McLean https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Don_McLean