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TODAY IN MILITARY HISTORY
55BC Wedding of the Optimate demagogue Titus Annius Milo to Fausta, daughter of Sulla the Dictator
0    Army Day in Haiti
0    Feast of St. Abhai of Hach, Abbot, and that of St. Odo of Cluny, Abbot and Monastic Reformer, Patron of Rain
326    the original St. Peter's Basilica in Rome was consecrated
1105    King Henry V of the Germans appoints Maginulfo of Peschiera [Anti-] Pope as Sylvester IV (1105-1111)
1180    Accession of Philip II Augustus as King of France (1180-1223)
1210    Pope Innocent III excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV
1282    Pope Martin IV excommunicates King Peter III of Aragon.
1421    St. Elizabeth's Flood: A seawall on the Zuiderzee in the Netherlands collapses, c. 10,000 die
1495    King Ferrantino II of Naples recaptured Gaeta from the French after a nine-week siege -- Learn More
1523    Giulio de'Medici elected Pope as Clement VII (1523-1534)
1601    Siege of Nagykanizsa: Outnumbered and under siege for 70 days, the Turks under Tiryaki Hasan Pasha stage a breakout and rout the Habsburgs under Archduke Ferdinand, inflicting great loss
1626    the present St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome was consecrated
1755    The Great Cape Ann Earthquake, New England
1803    Battle of Vertieres: Haitians defeat the French, the decisive action of the Haitian War for Independence
1812    Battle of Krasnoi: After three days an heroic rear guard action by the French under Marshal Ney ends as they retreat before Russia's Marshal Kutusov
1861    Skirmish at Palmyra, Mo
1870    Amadeo de Savoia, the Duke of Aosta, is elected King of Spain as Amadeo I (Nov. 16, 1870-Feb 11, 1873), abdicates
1890    the second class battleship 'Maine' was launched in the Brooklyn Navy Yard -- Learn More
1903    Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty gives US exclusive canal rights in Panama
1905    Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway (1905-1957)
1906    Anarchists detonated a bomb in St. Peter's Square, though no one in the large Sunday crowd was injured [See 326, 1626]
1912    Albania declared independence from the Ottoman Empire -- Learn More
1914    Naval Battle of Cape Sarych: the Russian Black Sea Fleet defeats a Turko-German squadron
1914    The British Army authorized the raising of “Bantam” formations – Learn More
1936    Germany & Italy recognized Franco government in Spain
1941    Operation Barbarossa: A Soviet counterattack near Tula causes the German 112th Infantry Division to break.
1941    Last Italian forces in Ethiopia surrender to the British, ending 15 months of resistance
1943    Philippines: Japanese destroyer escort 'Sanae' is sunk by USS 'Bluefish' (SS-222)
1944    British aircraft carriers raid oil facilities, bases, and ports in Sumatra
1945    General of the Army George C. Marshal stepped down after 2,271 days as Chief-of-Staff of the Army -- Learn More
1961    JFK sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam
1978    The Jonestown Event: In Guyana, cult leader Jim Jones and his followers commit mass murder & suicide, 918 die, including U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan, murdered
2012    Accession of Tawadros II as Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

BORN
1772    Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, soldier, kia 1806
1774    Vittorio Amedeo Ferdinando Sallier della Torre, Piedmontese field marshal and statesman, d. 1858
1804    Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora, soldier and politician, PM of Italy (1864-1866), who lost the big one at Custoza, d. 1878
1810    Andrés Pico, Mexican Brig. Gen., victor of the Battle of S. Pascual (near S. Diego), against the US, later Brig. Gen. California militia in the Civil War, d. 1876
1810    Benjamin Stone Roberts, Brig Gen, U.S., of "Roberts' Rules", d. 1875
1812    Jesse Johnson Finley, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1904
1824    Franz Sigel, "Red '48-er," Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1902
1824    Isham Nicholas Haynie, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1868
1835    Americus Vespucius Rice, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1904
1836    Maximo Gomez, Cuban revolutionary, d. 1905
1860    Ignacy Paderewski, internationally famous pianist, Polish nationalist, Prime Minister of Poland (1919), d. 1941, in exile in the United States.
1883    Carl Vinson, American politician, "Father of the Two Ocean Navy," d. 1981
1886    Ferenc Münnich, Hungarian communist, veteran of the Austro-Hungarian Army, the Hungarian Socialist Republic, the International Brigades, PM of Hungary (1958-1961), d. 1967
1916    Shelby Foote, author ("The Civil War: A Narrative")
1923    Alan B Shepard, Jr., USN, astronaut, d. 1998
1941    David Hemmings, actor ("The Charge of the Light Brigade"), d. 2003

DIED
67    St. Peter, Apostle and Pope (32-c. 67), martyred at Rome
303    St. Hesychius of Antioch, Roman soldier & martyr, drowned in the Orontes after proclaiming his faith
1170    Albrecht I "the Bear", first Margraf of Brandenburg (1157-1170) and Duke of Saxony (1138-1142), c. 70
1247    Robin Hood, traditionally, poisoned by a nun
1305    Duke John II of Brittany (1268-1305), 65, English ally, crusader
1329    Alberghetto I Manfredi, Lord of Faenza (1327-1328), beheaded at Bologna
1664    Miklos Zrinyi, Hungarian general and military thinker, at 44
1851    Ernst August, Duke of Cumberland, King of Hanover (1837-51), at 80
1886    Chester A. Arthur, sometime militiaman and president, at 56 -- Learn More
1942    Madison Sullivan (23), last of the "Sullivan Brothers,"drowned off Guadalcanal [possibly the 19th]