The First Battle of Dernancourt was fought on 28 March 1918 near Dernancourt in northern France during World War I. Two Australian divisions had been sent south from Belgium to help stem the tide of the German Spring Offensive towards Amiens and, with the British 35th Division, they held a line west and north of the Ancre river and the area between the Ancre and Somme. The German 2nd Army concentrated its assault between Albert and Dernancourt, attacking off the line of march after a short artillery preparation. The dawn attack was under the cover of fog, but other than one small penetration in the early morning that was quickly repelled, the Germans failed to break through the Allied defences. An Australian sergeant, Stanley McDougall (pictured), was awarded the Victoria Cross for his part in defeating the German penetration. A week later the Germans renewed their attempts to advance in the sector, culminating in the Second Battle of Dernancourt when the Germans were again defeated.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1862:

American Civil War: An invasion of the New Mexico Territory by the Confederate States Army was halted by Union forces at the Battle of Glorieta Pass. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Glorieta_Pass

1910:

French aviator Henri Fabre's floatplane, the Fabre Hydravion, became the first aircraft to take off from water under its own power at the Étang de Berre near Martigues in southern France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabre_Hydravion

1930:

The name of Turkey's largest city was changed from Constantinople to Istanbul, with the government requesting other countries to use Turkish names for its cities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Istanbul

2015:

A siege of a hotel in Mogadishu by Al-Shabaab militants, which began the previous day and killed at least 20 people, ended with the Somali Armed Forces recapturing the premises. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makka_al-Mukarama_hotel_attack

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

atompunk: (science fiction) A subgenre of speculative fiction, based on the society and technology of the Atomic Age (c. 1945–1965). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/atompunk

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Words are not (except in their own little corner) facts or things: we need therefore to prise them off the world, to hold them apart from and against it, so that we can realize their inadequacies and arbitrariness, and can relook at the world without blinkers.   --J. L. Austin https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._L._Austin