It was the first campaign Hitler was forced to fight due to his Italian ally’s incompetence. The thrashing of the Italians in North Africa forced Hitler to send in one of his best tank commanders Erwin Rommel and the Afrika Korps in February 1941. Outnumbered and out-equipped Rommel won a series of stunning victories before his …
Today in History – May 13, 1943 – The Afrika Korps surrenders Read More »
The Republic of Venice had once been the most powerful state in the Mediterranean. Almost impregnable because of the mashes that surrounded the city, Venice used its naval power to project military power abroad. In 1204 the Venetians diverted the Fourth Crusade to Constantinople fatally weakening the Byzantine Empire. As the Empire crumbled in coming years before …
This day in History – May 12, 1797 – Collapse of the Republic of Venice Read More »
Petrus Sabbatius was born to a Latin speaking peasant family in Macedonia with no hint of his glorious future. When he was a boy we was sent to Constantinople where his uncle Justin served in the imperial guard. The rough soldier adopted his nephew. After the adoption the young Petrus took the cognomen by which he is …
This day in History – May 11, 482 – Birth of Petrus Sabbatius Read More »
Decades of simmering economic, cultural, social and religious resentments to the rule of the East India Company finally ignited in the military cantonment of Meerut in North India. By 1857 the East India Company reigned supreme in the subcontinent. After the debacle of the Afghan War in 1839, the independent Sikh State of the Punjab …
Today in History – May 10, 1857 – The Great Uprising commences in India Read More »
It was a decision that came three years too late. With a referendum on the monarchy looming and tainted by his previous support of fascism King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy finally abdicated his throne n favor of his son Umberto II and left the country the following day. Victor Emmanuel had allowed Mussolini to rise to …
Antoine Lavoisier named oxygen. He discovered that oxygen when combined with hydrogen (which he also named) produced water. He demonstrated oxygen’s role in rusting metal and in respiration. He proved the law of conservation of mass i.e. even though matter changed its state in a chemical reaction its mass remains unchanged. He discovered that air …
Today in History – May 8, 1794 – Antoine Lavoisier is sent to the National Razor Read More »
During World War I, Germany did an impressive job turning sympathy into hostility. At the start of the war the Royal Navy blockaded German ports. The blockade was also extended to neutral ports like those in the Netherlands, under the logical argument that they were being used to import materiel that kept the German war …
Today in History – May 7, 1915 – Sinking of the Lusitania Read More »
It was an event that shocked Europe. The armies of a Christian Catholic Emperor (containing protestants) sacked the Eternal City sending the Pope fleeing for his life to the security of the Castel Sant’Angelo before he surrendered the following month. Pope Clement VII had allied with France in an effort to liberate the Papal States from …
Napoleon I had his Spanish ulcer. His nephew Napoleon III‘s ulcer was Mexican. In 1861 President Benito Juarez‘s suspension of interest payments ticked off Mexio’s European creditors France, Spain and the United Kingdom. The three powers sent their navies to threaten Mexico. However Spain and the United Kingdom soon realized that Napoleon III meant to …
Today in History – May 5, 1862 – Battle of Puebla commemorated today as Cinco de Mayo Read More »
The Kingdom of Mysore under Hyder Ali and then his son Tipu Sultan had been a repeated burr in the saddle for British attempts to conquer South India. The first two wars against Hyder Ali had ended in a draw. In 1792 the British won a resounding victory over Tipu Sultan in the Third Anglo-Mysore …
Today in History – May 4, 1799 – Fall of Seringapatam and death of Tipu Sultan Read More »