led by Xanthippus over a Roman army led by Marcus Atilius Regulus in
early 255 BC, nine years into the First Punic War. The previous year
Roman forces had advanced on the city of Carthage in North Africa and
defeated the Carthaginian army at the Battle of Adys. In despair, the
Carthaginians sued for peace, but the proposed terms were so harsh they
decided to fight on. They gave charge of their army to the Spartan
mercenary general Xanthippus, who led 12,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry and
100 war elephants (statuette pictured) against the Romans' 15,000
infantry and 500 cavalry. The Romans had no effective answer to the
elephants, their outnumbered cavalry were chased from the field, and
most of their infantry were surrounded and wiped out. The Romans
subsequently evacuated Africa. The war ended in 241 BC with a Roman
victory; the terms agreed were more generous than those proposed
14 years earlier.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bagradas_River_%28255_BC%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1774:
In response to the British Parliament's enactment of the
Intolerable Acts, representatives from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies
convened the First Continental Congress at Carpenters' Hall in
Philadelphia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Continental_Congress>
1882:
A group of London schoolboys led by Bobby Buckle founded
Hotspur Football Club to continue to play sports during the winter
months.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tottenham_Hotspur_F.C.>
1915:
The Zimmerwald Conference, the first of three international
socialist conferences forming the Zimmerwald movement, opened in
Switzerland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimmerwald_Conference>
1975:
Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a devotee of Charles Manson,
attempted to assassinate U.S. president Gerald Ford.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_assassination_of_Gerald_Ford_in_Sacramento>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ascesis:
1. (Rigorous) self-discipline, particularly as a religious observance;
asceticism.
2. (Christianity, chiefly Eastern Orthodoxy and Catholicism,
specifically) The praxis or "exercise" of asceticism and self-denial of
impulses or passions for the sake of piety, theosis, and connection with
God.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ascesis>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We cannot allow Donald Trump to redefine the Republican Party.
That is what he is doing, as long as we give the impression by our
silence that his words are our words and his actions are our actions. We
cannot allow that impression to go unchallenged. As has been true since
our beginning, we Republicans are the party of Lincoln, the party of the
Union. We believe in our founding principle. We are proud of our
illustrious history. We believe that we are an essential part of
present-day American politics. Our country needs a responsibly
conservative party. But our party has been corrupted by this hateful
man, and it is now in peril.
--John Danforth
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Danforth>
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