TODAY IN MILITARY HISTORY
21 February
◆1082 Robert the Weasel captures Durazzo from the Byzantines by treachery.
◆1339 Battle of Parabiago: The Visconti defeat the Company of St. George.
◆1407 Battle of Moribondo: The Milanese Guelfs defeat the Milanese Ghibellines.
◆1431 The English try Joan of Arc for witchcraft, at Rouen.
◆1543 Battle of Waim Dega: Portuguese & Ethiopians defeat the Sultan of Adal.
◆1574 Siege of Middleburg: The Spanish surrender to the Dutch.
◆1775 As troubles with Great Britain increased, colonists in Massachusetts voted to buy military equipment for 15,000 men.
◆1792 US Congress passed the Presidential Succession Act.
◆1794 Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Mexican Revolutionary and the leading villain of Texas history, was born in Mexico.
◆1797 British capture Trinidad from the Spanish.
◆1828 The first printing press designed to use the newly invented Cherokee alphabet arrives at New Echota, Georgia.
◆1848 The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx with the assistance of Friedrich Engels, is published in London by a group of German-born revolutionary socialists known as the Communist League.
◆1861 Gustavus V. Fox, ex-naval officer now a civilian, reconnoitered Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, as directed by President Lincoln, to determine the best means of relieving the Fort. Based on his observations, Fox recommended relieving Sumter by sea.
◆1862 Confederate troops under General Henry Hopkins Sibley attack Union troops commanded by Colonel Edward R. S. Canby near Fort Craig in New Mexico Territory.★
◆1862 Confederate Constitution & presidency were declared permanent.
◆1862 Flag Officer Farragut formally relieved Flag Officer McKean as Commander, Western Gulf Block¬ading Squadron. As his other ships arrived, he assembled them at the Southeast Pass and sent those whose draft permitted over the bar to conduct the blockade ''in the river.''
◆1864 Battle at Okolona, Mississippi.
◆1865 The gunboat fleet of Rear Admiral Porter closed Fort Strong and opened rapid fire "all along the enemy's line" to support the Army attack ashore as it had throughout the soldiers steady march up both banks of the Cape Fear River.
◆1887 The 1st US bacteriology laboratory opened in Brooklyn.
◆1903 The cornerstone laid for US army war college in Washington, DC.1916 Battle of Verdun begins; will produce nearly a million casualties in 302 days.
◆1920 Robert S. Johnson was born, American World War II fighter ace shot down 27 German planes.★
◆1922 Airship Rome exploded at Hampton Roads, Virginia, and 34 died.
◆1934 Nicaraguan patriot Augusto Cesar Sandino was assassinated by National Guard.
◆1940 The Germans began construction of a concentration camp at Auschwitz. Hans Munch was an SS doctor at the camp and later reported his experiences there in detail for the 1998 TV documentary “People’s Century.”
◆1943 A detachment of 15th Panzer Division launches a diversionary attack on Tebessa which is strongly held by the US 1st Armored Division.
◆1943 Operation Cleanslate. Troops of the US 43rd Division (commanded by General Hester) occupy Banika andPavuvu in the Russell Islands. There is no Japanese resistance. By the end of the month about 9000 American troops occupy these islands.
◆1943 The USS Spencer, CG, received credit from the U.S. Navy for attacking and sinking the U-225 in the North Atlantic.★
◆1944 Prime Minister General Tojo takes over the office of Chief of the Army General Staff, in place of Field Marshal Sugiyama. The navy minister, Admiral Shimada, also takes an additional office, replacing Admiral Nagano as Chief of Staff.
◆1944 Marines with support of naval bombardment and carrier aircraft secure Eniwetok atoll.
◆1945 The US 11th Corps completes the capture of the Bataan area of Luzon. Fighting on Corregidor continues, as does the battle for Manila.
◆1945 The Bismarck Sea was the last U.S. Navy aircraft carrier to be sunk in combat during WWII.
◆1950 The United States formally broke relations with Bulgaria.
◆1951 The U. S. Eighth Army launched Operation Killer, a counterattack to push Chinese forces north of the Han River in Korea.
◆1951 After a two-month detachment to the ROK Army, the 1st ROK Marine Regiment rejoined the U.S. 1st Marine Division.
◆1953 An intermittent battle of more than nine hours on T-Bone Hill ultimately forced the U.N. troops to withdraw from this outpost.
◆1960 Havana placed all Cuban industry under direct control of the government.
◆1970 Pathet Lao conquered Xieng Khuang and Muong Suy.
◆1974 A report claimed that the use of defoliants by the U.S. would scar Vietnam for a century. Defoliation was meant to save lives by denying the enemy cover.
◆1999 US and British warplanes attacked a missile base and 2 military communication sites after Iraqi jets violated the no-fly zone.
◆2003 US Navy is boarding an average of six vessels a day as it steps up patrols in international waters searching for Iraqi weapons. UNMOVIC had previously announced that there were reports suggesting that Iraqi weapons had been smuggled abroad in recent months.
◆2003 NATO announces that AWACS surveillance planes will fly to the Turkish airforce base in the next few days.