The Battle of Blenheim was fought on 13 August 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The French were seeking to knock Austria out of the war by seizing its capital, Vienna. An army of the reconstituted Grand Alliance, led by the Duke of Marlborough, marched south from the Dutch Republic to the Danube. There he defeated the Bavarians at the Battle of Donauwörth and joined an Austrian army under Prince Eugene. A French army under Marshall Tallard bolstered the Elector of Bavaria's forces. The opposing armies met on the banks of the Danube near the village of Blindheim. Marlborough unexpectedly attacked the slightly larger Franco-Bavarian army and after a hard day's fighting inflicted a crushing defeat. France suffered around 30,000 casualties, Tallard was taken prisoner and Bavaria was knocked out of the war. Before the campaign ended, the Allies had taken several important towns and were preparing to invade France in 1705.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1762:

Anglo-Spanish War: The United Kingdom captured Havana after a five-week siege, holding it until the Treaty of Paris the following year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Havana

1918:

Opha May Johnson became the first woman to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opha_May_Johnson

1961:

Construction began on the Berlin Wall, a long barrier separating West Berlin from East Berlin and the surrounding territory of East Germany. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbed_Wire_Sunday

2010:

After having been boarded by Canadian authorities, the MV Sun Sea docked in British Columbia and the 492 Sri Lankan Tamil refugee claimants on board were placed into detention. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Sun_Sea_incident

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

meteorwrong: (humorous) A rock that is believed to be a meteorite, but is in fact terrestrial in origin; a pseudometeorite. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meteorwrong

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The past speaks to us in a thousand voices, warning and comforting, animating and stirring to action. What its great thinkers have thought and written on the deepest problems of life, shall we not hear and enjoy? The future calls upon us to prepare its way. Dare we fail to answer its solemn summons?   --Felix Adler https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Felix_Adler