Historical Fact of the Day

[Quintus.JC]

26 June 1541: Assassination of Francisco Pizarro Gonzalez, famed Spanish conquistador and vanquisher of the Incan empire.

[Quintus.JC]

It forced the French knights to dismount, yes but they didn't charge against the spikes, if that's what you meant, I'm not sure I got it right.

The whole point of pike or spear wall is to present what looks as unmovable object. Horses, even when trained as war horses, tend to slow down or try to go around it, because it is not in their nature hit with full speed into something they perceive as a solid object. On the other end of the spectrum, with the pike/spear infantry, they need to hold their ground even though there is a lot of armoured men on armoured horses with something long and pointy rolling down towards them at high speed. It isn't in the nature of men hold their ground in such case. Your instinct would tell you to run or move. It depends a lot on morale and training. Troops with low morale and poor training will instinctively try to move and thus create gaps. In the worst case they would turn around and run. Of course anything that weakens the cohesion of the group will only make it worse for infantry. Because the horses don't see it no longer as a solid object, they would be less inclined to slow down or try to move around it, and it would bring on infantry the strength of the full charge.

It depends on the lot of things really, training, morale, quality of weapons and armour...

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, it appears a lot of psychological factors are involved here.

[King Jan III Sobieski]

June 28 is the 95 Anniversary of the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the House of Habsburg.

[King Jan III Sobieski]

On June 27, 1358, the Republic of Dubrovnik was founded.

[Quintus.JC]

June 28 is the 95 Anniversary of the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the House of Habsburg.

And exactly five years later...

28 June 1919: Treaty of Versailles
Needless to mention its result and legacy.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

28 June,

1709 - The Russians defeated the Swedes and Cossacks at the Battle of Poltava.

1942 - German troops launched an offensive to seize Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus and the city of Stalingrad.

[Sarmatian]

1963 - U.S. President John Kennedy announced "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner) at the Berlin Wall.

Ich bin ein Berliner

[King Kurt]

For today - 29 June
48 BC Julius Caesar defeated Pompey at Pharsalus to become the ruler of Rome

1613 The Globe Theatre in London, England burns to the ground.

1644 Charles I of England defeats a Parliamentarian detachment at the Battle of Cropredy Bridge, the last battle won by an English King on English soil.

1801 The first British census was carried out, revealing a population of 8,872,000

1905 The AA was formed.

1964 American scientists unveiled the first remote control for a television set - now that is important!!

1956 In London, US playwright Arthur Miller, married actress Marilyn Monroe.

1974 Isabel (Eva) Peron, was sworn in as President owing to her husband Juan Peron's illness.

1974 'Moonraker' starring Roger Moore as James Bond, opened at cinemas across America.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Ich bin ein Berliner

That made me laugh!!

[rotorgun]

1801 The first British census was carried out, revealing a population of 8,872,000-King Kurt

Curious...was this figure representative of just the indigenous people then living in the Isle of Albion, or did it include citizens abroad among the empire's colonies?

[Quintus.JC]

For today - 29 June
48 BC Julius Caesar defeated Pompey at Pharsalus to become the ruler of Rome

The actual battle was fought on the 9th of August 48.BC I believe.

[King Jan III Sobieski]

My Grandmother would have been 88 today (June 29).

[King Kurt]

Curious...was this figure representative of just the indigenous people then living in the Isle of Albion, or did it include citizens abroad among the empire's colonies?

I am sure that would be just the Isles of the UK. As the census evolved I know it included things like Navy ships at sea, but I don't think it ever extended to people working permanently abroad. The census is technically who is living in a certain dwelling on a certain day - we had one in 2001 and the form was quite specific.

As for
Originally Posted by King Kurt
For today - 29 June
48 BC Julius Caesar defeated Pompey at Pharsalus to become the ruler of Rome


The actual battle was fought on the 9th of August 48.BC I believe.

I got all my info from one website, so you may be right - Wiki certainly says it was the 9th of August - only goes to prove you can't believe everything you read on the internet!!

[InsaneApache]

Might have something to do with the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calender. Might.

[King Kurt]

The actual battle was fought on the 9th of August 48.BC I believe.

Just found this in Wiki -

"The date of the battle is given as 9 August. This is according to the republican calendar. The date according to the Julian calendar, was either 29 June 48 BC (according to Le Verrier's chronological reconstruction) or 7 June 48 BC (according to Drumann/Groebe). Pompey was assassinated on September 3rd. The point is not entirely academic; had the battle taken place in the true month of August, when the harvest was becoming ripe, Pompey's strategy of starving Caesar would have been senseless"

So perhaps we are all right and all wrong!! - and well done to Insane Apache for suggesting something along those lines

[Quintus.JC]

Just found this in Wiki -

"The date of the battle is given as 9 August. This is according to the republican calendar. The date according to the Julian calendar, was either 29 June 48 BC (according to Le Verrier's chronological reconstruction) or 7 June 48 BC (according to Drumann/Groebe). Pompey was assassinated on September 3rd. The point is not entirely academic; had the battle taken place in the true month of August, when the harvest was becoming ripe, Pompey's strategy of starving Caesar would have been senseless"

So perhaps we are all right and all wrong!! - and well done to Insane Apache for suggesting something along those lines

Insane Apache is right, damn. Now how am I supposed to post the Bolsheviks revolution dates then?

Battle of Pharsalus is a good example of complacency from one side as Pompey was certain his superior numbers would carry the day, and failed epically.

[Ariovistus Maximus]

July 1, 1863

First day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

[King Kurt]

July 1, 1863

First day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

A salient lesson on the perils of shoe shopping!!! - Celebs and WAGs take note!!!

[King Kurt]

July 3


987 – Hugh Capet was crowned King of France, becoming the first monarch of the Capetian dynasty - but not for long in the recent interactive history in the Chapter House!!!
1608 – French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City, considered to be the first European-built city in non-Spanish North America.
1844 – The last known pair of Great Auks the only species in the genus Pinguinus, were killed in Eldey off the coast of Iceland.
1863 – Pickett's Charge, a disastrous Confederate infantry assault against Union Army positions, occurred during the final and bloodiest day of fighting in the Battle of Gettysburg, marking a turning point in the American Civil War.
1988 – United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

As a Brit, I wondered what the popular view in the States was of Pickett's charge? - Is it one of tragic valour, incredible courage or a military blunder?

My view would be that it is a military blunder of the highest order - much more like the mistakes the Union often made, as opposed to the Confederates.

Any thoughts??

[Ariovistus Maximus]

A salient lesson on the perils of shoe shopping!!! - Celebs and WAGs take note!!!

Ya!

In answer to your question about Pickett's charge, I think it was perhaps tragically valiant on the part of those who performed it, but a complete blunder on the part of leadership.

But then, I'm an evil Northerner, so...

I dunno some people in the South still seem to act like it was 1860.

But either way you have to be very die-hard confederate to think that Pickett's charge was a good move.

I don't know what Lee was thinking there. The genious of Chancellorsville and a dozen other places? Who caused the mandatory retirement of HOW many Union generals? Ordering a frontal assault on prepared positions?

Kinda like the reverse of Fredericksburg actually.

It's interesting how even the greatest generals often make just the right mistake at just the right time to completely shoot themselves in the foot. Lee at Gettysburg, Napoleon at Waterloo (and earlier actually), Rommel got himself into the Hitler assassination plot, etc.

Providential, some might say.

[Quintus.JC]

4th July 1187 - The Horns of Hattins

Coalition forces of Outremer states and Crusading orders were decisively crushed by Ayyubids forces led by Salah ad-Dīn, resulting in the fall of Jerusalem and the lauch of the third crusade. The battle is featured in many movies and are playable in games such as Medieval: Total War, Age of the Empires II and Stronghold Crusader.

[Alexanderofmacedon]

I decided to make a blog in my free time (we'll see how it goes in the summer) based on military events in history. Everday I'll find an event and instead of just listing the events that have occured in the day, I'll try to explain them a bit too.

http://thisdayinhistory-conflict.blogspot.com/

[King Jan III Sobieski]

5 July 1295 – Scotland and France form an alliance, the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England.

[King Kurt]

For July 7:

1585 – The Treaty of Nemours was first signed, forcing Henry III of France (pictured) to give in to the demands of the Catholic League and revoking all edicts granting concessions to the Huguenots.
1798 – The Quasi-War, an undeclared war fought entirely at sea, began after the United States rescinded their treaties with France.
1807 – Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon I of France signed the first agreement of the Treaties of Tilsit, ending the War of the Fourth Coalition.
1928 – The Chillicothe Baking Company in Chillicothe, Missouri, USA, first produced sliced bread, advertised as "the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped", which then led to the popular phrase "the greatest thing since sliced bread".
1937 – The Imperial Japanese Army defeated the Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army on Beijing's Marco Polo Bridge, marking the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
2005 - 4 suicide bombs go off in London, killing 52 innocent people

The Quasi War is interesting - never heard of it before - it was fought entirely at sea

The Sino- Japanese war is truely the forgotten conflict of WW2 - enormous casualties, horrendious war crimes and truely world changing consequences - yet it is hardly mentioned here in the West

[Samurai Waki]

1758: The British attack on Fort Carillon at Ticonderoga, New York, is foiled by the French.
1794: French troops capture Brussels, Belgium.
1859: The Truce at Villafranca Austria cedes Lombardy to France.
1863: Demoralized by the surrender of Vicksburg, Confederates in Port Hudson, Louisiana, surrender to Union forces.
1950: General Douglas MacArthur is appointed head of the United Nations Command in Korea.

[King Kurt]

Nothing for a few days, but we can't let Bastille day go by!!

So - July 14
The Storming of the Bastille in Paris occurred on 14 July, 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the center of Paris. While the prison only contained seven prisoners at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution, and it subsequently became an icon of the French Republic.

Also

1865 – First ascent of the Matterhorn by Edward Whymper and party, four of whom died on the descent.
1881 – Billy the Kid is shot and killed by Pat Garrett outside Fort Sumner.
1965 – The Mariner 4 flyby of Mars takes the first close-up photos of another planet.
1969 – Political conflicts between El Salvador and Honduras erupted into the four-day Football War, so-named because it coincided with the inflamed rioting during the second CONCACAF qualifying round for the 1970 FIFA World Cup.
2003 - The U.S. Government admitted the existence of Area 51, the secretive military airfield in Nevada that has become a focus of various UFO and conspiracy theories, conceding that the U.S. Air Force does have an "operating location" there. - One for the conspiracy theorists there

The Football War is one I have distant memories about - as England was in the grip of a long period of football hooliganism at the time having a war seemed like the next logical step!! As usual with our tabloid press - some things never change - the complicated actual reasons for the war were ignored and it was portrayed as a couple of banana republics scraping over a football game.

[KrooK]

15. 07 . 1410 - BATTLE OF GRUNWALD
One of the biggest battles of Medieval Europe. Knights from half of Europe took part.
Polish - Lithuanian army broke Teutonic Order and stopped German Drag nach Osten for 350 years.
Poland suddenly became local empire.

[King Kurt]

Krook - thanks for that - the strength of this thread is how it highlights different aspects of history. The battle of Grunwald is virtually unknown here - to be honest vast tracts of central European history are sketchy to us here in England - so, inspired by your post, I went off to Wiki and found out a bit more. I have always been fascinated by the Teutonic Order ever since seeing them as sinister Knights in the film of Alexander Nevsky - MTW and the forum have sparked me into finding out a bit more of their history.

My contribution is a more minor one. On July 15 1989 Laurie Cunningham, an English footballer, was killed in car crash outside of Madrid. Laurie was one of the first black footballers to make the grade here in England and he caused a major change in English football. Racism - absolutely rife in the 1960's and 70's - has mostly gone from the game and teams here in the UK have all races playing from them. Laurie and several other gifted black footballers lead the way for this major change in English sport. For our American friends, he did for football what Jackie Robinson did for baseball. For those who want to know more see this article from the BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/8149282.stm

[KrooK]

In the eastern europe battle of grunwald is one of the most important. Can be compared with battle at lake pejpus or battle at kuligove pole. Results were not easily to see at the beginning but battle changed balancement into this region. Times when teutonic order made rides agains Poles and Lithuanians without risk ended.
Since Grunwald all the attempts to attack Poland or Lithuania finished into loses of order.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

July 21

1861 - The first major battle of the U.S. Civil War began. It was the Battle of Bull Run at Manassas Junction, VA. The Confederates won the battle.

1931 - CBS aired the first regularly scheduled program to be simulcast on radio and television. The show featured singer Kate Smith, composer George Gershwin and New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker.

1940 - Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia were annexed by the Soviet Union.

1969 - Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon, during the Apollo 11 mission.