Operation Grandslam was an offensive undertaken by United Nations
peacekeeping forces from 28 December 1962 to 15 January 1963 against
the gendarmerie of the State of Katanga, which was rebelling against the
Republic of the Congo in central Africa. Katanga's leader, Moïse
Tshombe, repeatedly violated agreements he had made with the UN and the
Congolese government. The UN Operation in the Congo became increasingly
impatient towards Tshombe and drew up plans to resolve the situation
through force. In December 1962 Katangese gendarmes attacked UN
peacekeepers, and U Thant, Secretary-General of the UN, authorised an
offensive. UN forces secured the Katangese capital, Élisabethville, and
destroyed much of the Katangese Air Force in December 1962. In early
January Indian peacekeepers exceeded their orders and crossed the Lufira
River ahead of schedule, generating panic behind the Katangese lines.
The Katangese forces were decisively defeated and Katanga was forcibly
reintegrated into the Congo.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Grandslam>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1812:
War of 1812: In a three-hour single-ship action, HMS Java
(drawing shown) was captured by USS Constitution off the coast of
Brazil.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Java_%281811%29>
1876:
A railway bridge collapsed over the Ashtabula River in Ohio,
killing 92 people and injuring 64 others on a Lake Shore and Michigan
Southern Railway train.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtabula_River_railroad_disaster>
1928:
The Northern Expedition, a military campaign by the National
Revolutionary Army of the Kuomintang, ended with the complete control of
the Republic of China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Expedition>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
reniform:
1. (chiefly biology, mineralogy) Synonym of kidney-shaped (“having an
approximately circular or elongated ovoid shape with an inward curve or
indentation on one side”)
2. (botany) Of a leaf: kidney-shaped, with the petiole attached at the
notch.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/reniform>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Be unhoused, O my soul! Only the Infinite be your goal. Leave
those myriad forms behind, Leave the million names that bind. A flash
will pierce your heart and mind, And unhouse you, O my soul!
--Kuvempu
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kuvempu>
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