Today in Military History 1st August

August 1st 1571    The Ottoman conquest of Cyprus is concluded, by the surrender of Famagusta.

August 1st  1759     Seven Years' War: The Battle of Minden, an allied Anglo-German army victory over the French.

August 1st 1798     Battle of the Nile (Battle of Aboukir Bay)  Naval battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the Navy of the French Republic.

August 1st 1801   First  Barbary War:   The USS Enterprise captures the Tripolitan polacca

August 1st 1894  The First Sino-Japanese War erupts between Japan and China 

August 1st  1914 The German Empire declares war on the Russian Empire at the opening of World War I. 

August 1st  1927 The Nanchang Uprising marks the first significant battle in the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party.

August 1st 1943    World War II: Operation Tidal Wave also known as "Black Sunday", 

August 1st 1944  World War II: The Warsaw Uprising against the Nazi German.

August 1st 1988 A British soldier was killed in the Inglis Barracks bombing in London, England

Today in Military History July 20

July 20 911  Rollo lays siege to Chartres.

July 20 1398  The Battle of Kellistown was fought on this day between the forces of the English led by Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March against the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles under the command of Art Óg mac Murchadha Caomhánach, the most powerful Chieftain in Leinster.

July 20 1402  Ottoman-Timurid Wars: Battle of Ankara: Timur, ruler of Timurid Empire, defeats forces of the Ottoman Empire sultan Bayezid I.

July 20 1592  During the first Japanese invasion of Korea, Japanese forces led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi captured Pyongyang, although they were ultimately unable to hold it.

July 20 1864  American Civil War: Battle of Peachtree Creek: Near Atlanta, Georgia, Confederate forces led by General John Bell Hood unsuccessfully attack Union troops under General William T. Sherman.

July 20 1866  Austro-Prussian War: Battle of Lissa: The Austrian Navy, led by Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, defeats the Italian Navy near the island of Vis in the Adriatic Sea.

July 20 1917  World War I: The Corfu Declaration, which leads to the creation of the post-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia, is signed by the Yugoslav Committee and Kingdom of Serbia.

July 20 1920  The Greek Army takes control of Silivri after Greece is awarded the city by the Paris Peace Conference; by 1923 Greece effectively lost control to the Turks.

July 20 1944  World War II: Adolf Hitler survives an assassination attempt led by German Army Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.

July 20 1949  Israel and Syria sign a truce to end their nineteen-month war.

July 20 1950  Cold War: In Philadelphia, Harry Gold pleads guilty to spying for the Soviet Union by passing secrets from atomic scientist Klaus Fuchs.

July 20 1960  The Polaris missile is successfully launched from a submarine, the USS George Washington, for the first time.

July 20 1961  French military forces break the Tunisian siege of Bizerte.

July 20 1964  Vietnam War: Viet Cong forces attack the capital of Định Tường Province, Cái Bè, killing 11 South Vietnamese military personnel and 40 civilians (30 of whom are children).

July 20 1969  A cease fire is announced between Honduras and El Salvador, six days after the beginning of the "Football War".

July 20 1974   Turkish invasion of Cyprus: Forces from Turkey invade Cyprus after a coup d'état, organised by the dictator of Greece, against president Makarios.

July 20 1997   The fully restored USS Constitution (a.k.a. Old Ironsides) celebrates its 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years.

July 20 1999  The Chinese Communist Party begins a persecution campaign against Falun Gong, arresting thousands nationwide.

July 20 2005  The Civil Marriage Act legalizes same-sex marriage in Canada.

July 20 2013  Seventeen government soldiers are killed in an attack by FARC revolutionaries in the Colombian department of Arauca.

Today in Military History July 31th

 31 July 30BC   Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.

31 July 781    The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: Sixth day of the seventh month of the first year of the Ten'o (天応) era).

31 July 1009   Pope Sergius IV becomes the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII.

31 July 1201   Attempted usurpation by John Komnenos the Fat for the throne of Alexios III Angelos.   

31 July 1423  Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant: The French army is defeated by the English at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.

   
31 July 1588  The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England.

31 July 1618  Maurice, Prince of Orange disbands the waardgelders militia in Utrecht, a pivotal event in the Remonstrant/Counter-Remonstrant tensions.
   
31 July 1655  Russo-Polish War (165467): The Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years.
   
31 July 1712  Action of 31 July 1712 (Great Northern War): Danish and Swedish ships clash in the Baltic Sea; the result is inconclusive.
     
31 July 1763  Odawa Chief Pontiac's forces defeat British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac's War.
      
31 July 1904  Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Hsimucheng: Units of the Imperial Japanese Army defeat units of the Imperial Russian Army in a strategic confrontation.
   
31 July 1913  The Balkan States sign an armistice in Bucharest.
   
31 July 1917  World War I: The Battle of Passchendaele begins near Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium.
   
31 July 1941  World War II: The Battle of Smolensk concludes with Germany capturing about 300,000 Soviet Red Army prisoners.[1]
   

 

31 July 1948  USS Nevada is sunk by an aerial torpedo after surviving hits from two atomic bombs (as part of post-war tests) and being used for target practice by three other ships.

31 July 1972  The British Army re takes the urban no go areas of Northern Ireland. 

31 July 1991   The United States and Soviet Union both sign the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first to reduce (with verification) both countries' stockpiles.

   
31 July 2007  Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end.