break-out and pursuit phase of General Douglas MacArthur's Huon
Peninsula campaign, part of the New Guinea campaign of World War II.
Following the defeat of the Japanese in the Battle of Sattelberg,
Australian Army forces broke through positions around Finschhafen.
Constant pressure from US Navy PT boats, Australian land forces and
Allied aircraft brought the Japanese logistical system to the brink of
collapse, resulting in disease, malnutrition and privation for the
Japanese soldiers. Australian and Papuan troops advanced along the
coast, employing infantry, tanks, and air strikes against the Japanese
positions, which were generally sited at creek crossings in the jungle.
The Australian and Papuan troops inflicted heavy and disproportionate
casualties on the Japanese as they advanced, ultimately linking up with
the American forces at Saidor. Australian troops were also able to
capture important Japanese cryptographic materials. Hundreds of Japanese
soldiers were killed; thousands more died from disease, malnutrition,
exhaustion and suicide.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sio>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1484:
Pope Innocent VIII issued the papal bull Summis desiderantes
affectibus, giving Dominican Inquisitor Heinrich Kramer explicit
authority to prosecute witchcraft in Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summis_desiderantes_affectibus>
1775:
American Revolutionary War: Continental Army Colonel Henry Knox
arrived at Fort Ticonderoga in New York to arrange the transport of 60
tons of artillery that would be used to strengthen the Siege of Boston.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_train_of_artillery>
1945:
Flight 19, a squadron of five U.S. naval TBF Avenger torpedo
bombers, disappeared in the area now known as the Bermuda Triangle.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_19>
1965:
The "Glasnost Meeting" became the first demonstration in the
Soviet Union after the Second World War and marked the beginning of a
civil rights movement in the country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasnost_Meeting>
1995:
Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 56 crashed shortly after takeoff
from Nakhchivan Airport, killing 52 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan_Airlines_Flight_56>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
fussbudget:
One who complains or fusses a great deal, especially about unimportant
matters; a fusspot.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fussbudget>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I don't believe in playing down to children, either in life or in
motion pictures. I didn't treat my own youngsters like fragile flowers,
and I think no parent should. Children are people, and they should have
to reach to learn about things, to understand things, just as adults
have to reach if they want to grow in mental stature. Life is composed
of lights and shadows, and we would be untruthful, insincere, and
saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows. Most things are
good, and they are the strongest things; but there are evil things too,
and you are not doing a child a favor by trying to shield him from
reality. The important thing is to teach a child that good can always
triumph over evil, and that is what our pictures attempt to do.
--Walt Disney
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walt_Disney>
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