The Warsaw Uprising was an armed struggle during the Second World War by the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) to liberate Warsaw from German occupation and Nazi rule. It started on 1944-08-01 as a part of a nationwide uprising, Operation Tempest. The Polish troops resisted the German-led forces until October 2. An estimated 85% of the city was destroyed during the urban guerrilla war and after the end of hostilities. The Uprising started at a crucial point in the war as the Soviet army was approaching Warsaw. Although the Soviet army was within a few hundred metres of the city from September 16 onward, the link between the uprising and the advancing army was never made. This failure and the reasons behind it have been a matter of controversy ever since.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Uprising

Today's selected anniversaries:

* 1522 - The Victoria, carrying Juan Sebastián Elcano and 17 survivors of Ferdinand Magellan's 265-man expedition, returned to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain, becoming the first ship to circumnavigate the globe. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Sebasti%E1n_Elcano)

* 1901 - U.S. President William McKinley is fatally wounded by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McKinley)

* 1972 - Munich Massacre : Israeli athletes and coaches were killed by terrorists known as 'Black September' at the Olympic Games. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Massacre)

* 1995 - Baltimore Oriole shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. played his 2131st consecutive professional baseball games, breaking the 56-year old record set by New York Yankee first baseman Lou Gehrig. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cal_Ripken_Jr.)

Wikiquote of the day:

"Be silent as to services you have rendered, but speak of favours you have received." -- Seneca (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Seneca)