On this day...

[The Hallucinating Goose]

I missed it by a day but still thought I'd post because yesterday was the anniversary of one of the biggest military blunders in British history, something that very few people in Britain are made aware of. 

In 1807, the Royal Navy bombarded Copenhagen in what, even to this day the Danes consider an act of terrorism. The objective was to capture the Danish fleet, which being one of the largest in Europe, Britain were concerned would be captured by Napoleon instead. Denmark were not a belligerent in the Napoleonic Wars and were completely neutral.

The attack was not successful and as a result of it, the Danes allied with Napoleonic France and extended the continental blockade of ports for British ships, which hadn't been in place in Denmark before this event, one of the few countries that hadn't been forced to blockade against British ships. Absolute disaster...

Edited September 3, 2023 by The Hallucinating Goose

[DavidM]

54 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

I missed it by a day but still thought I'd post because yesterday was the anniversary of one of the biggest military blunders in British history, something that very few people in Britain are made aware of. 

In 1807, the Royal Navy bombarded Copenhagen in what, even to this day the Danes consider an act of terrorism. The objective was to capture the Danish fleet, which being one of the largest in Europe, Britain were concerned would be captured by Napoleon instead. Denmark were not a belligerent in the Napoleonic Wars and were completely neutral.

The attack was not successful and as a result of it, the Danes allied with Napoleonic France and extended the continental blockade of ports for British ships, which hadn't been in place in Denmark before this event, one of the few countries that hadn't been forced to blockade against British ships. Absolute disaster...

That reminds me there was a great tv series called Great Military Blunders 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

14 hours ago, DavidM said:

That reminds me there was a great tv series called Great Military Blunders 

How many of them were British? 

[DavidM]

48 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

How many of them were British? 

A lot in each episode . This is episode 1

 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

On this day in 1812, the Battle of Borodino was fought to the west of Moscow between the forces of the Grande Armee of Napoleon and the Russian Empire. 

This battle was the bloodiest of the Napoleonic Wars, seeing 70,000 casualties, and arguably was the beginning of the end for Napoleon. Despite winning the battle and forcing the Russians to retreat to Moscow, Napoleon took enormous losses and upon pursuing the Russians, he arrived in Moscow to find that the city had been set ablaze.

With the Russian winter severely hampering the French forces, Napoleon began his ill-fated retreat from Russia, passing back over the battlefields at Borodino, still littered with the bodies that had fallen there. When advancing into Russia, Napoleon had adopted a scorched earth tactic and stripped the land of all food and resources and unfortunately, this decision would prove fatal to the Grande Armee because as they retreated during the winter, they could not feed themselves with there being no food for them to pillage. 

Much of the Grande Armee perished and this severely weakened force would lead to the pivotal defeat soon afterwards at the Battle of Leipzig. 

[DavidM]

Major major event on this day … 50 years ago I was born . Hurrah !!

[Futtocks]

 

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

Rob Burrow is 41 today.  Happy birthday to the big, little man! (Gets mentioned in the notable birthdays column of The Times today)

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

Allegedly, today is International Poke Day.  Sounds promising, but apparently it relates to an aspect of Hawaiian cuisine...oh well!

[Futtocks]

 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

On this day in 1919, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, KLM, was founded. KLM is the oldest airline in the world still operating under its original name. 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

On this day in 1829, Stephenson's Rocket wins the Rainhill Trials. 

[Futtocks]

20 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

On this day in 1829, Stephenson's Rocket wins the Rainhill Trials. 

And an onlooker, Jebediah Sunak, looks forward to his descendant stopping all this "railways in the North" nonsense.

[Shadow]

3 hours ago, Futtocks said:

 Jebediah Sunak 

Don’t know why but this made me laugh

[The Hallucinating Goose]

On this day in 1967, Ernesto "Che" Guevara is executed for trying to incite a revolution in Bolivia. 

[DavidM]

2 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

On this day in 1967, Ernesto "Che" Guevara is executed for trying to incite a revolution in Bolivia. 

St Paul’s is hit in the Blitz as well 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

3 hours ago, DavidM said:

St Paul’s is hit in the Blitz as well 

Also on this day in 1834, the Dublin to Kingstown railway opened which was the first public railway on the island of Ireland. 

[DavidM]

Closer to home the Windscale Fire , 1957 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

A couple of big battles today;

On this day in 1066, the Norman Conquest of England began with the Battle of Hastings. 

On this day in 1806, Napoleon's Grande Armee decisively defeated the Prussians at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt. 

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

On this day in 1793, Queen Marie Antoinette is executed. 

On this day in 1834, the ancient Palace of Westminster burns to the ground. 

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

 

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

Today, by coincidence, Geoffrey Boycott and Manfred Mann are both 83.  Also celebrating a birthday today is someone called Kim Kardashian (a mere 43) who, younger members of my household tell me, is famous for being famous and, bodily, for having a generously proportioned rectal area.

[Bearman]

It's Trafalgar Day.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

On this day in 1966, the Aberfan Disaster occurred where a colliery spoil tip collapsed onto a number of houses and a school killing 144 people, 116 of which were children.