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Battle of Poitiers

The Black Prince's chevauchée of 1356 was a large-scale mounted raid, or chevauchée, by an Anglo-Gascon force under the command of Edward the Black Prince as part of the Hundred Years' War. In 1355, the Black Prince marched 675 miles (1,086 km) from Gascony to Narbonne and back, causing enormous economic damage. The following year, he carried out a similar chevauchée, this time as part of a strategic operation in cooperation with other English armies. On 4 August, 6,000 Anglo-Gascon soldiers headed north from Bergerac towards Bourges, devastating a wide swathe of French territory and sacking many French towns on the way. English plans went awry, and by early September the Anglo-Gascons were facing the French king, John II, and a much larger French army on their own. The Black Prince withdrew; John, determined to fight, pursued and cut off the Prince's army. The French repeatedly attacked at the Battle of Poitiers (pictured) and were heavily defeated. John and one of his sons were captured. (Full article...)

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In the news

Earthquake damage

About 60,000 migrants cross the Morocco–Spain border at Ceuta, leading to at least 72 deaths.
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake (damage pictured) strikes Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, leaving at least 38 people dead.
In Gaelic football, the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship concludes with Mayo defeating Kerry in the final.
In cycling, Tadej Pogačar wins the Tour de France.

On this day

August 4

USS Maddox (DD-731)

1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte, the French Army of Italy decisively defeated Austrian forces led by Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich at the Battle of Lonato.
1830 – American surveyor James Thompson produced the first plat of Chicago for the Illinois and Michigan Canal Commissioners.
1964 – Vietnam War: The National Security Agency falsely claimed that a U.S. Navy destroyer was attacked a second time by North Vietnamese vessels in the Gulf of Tonkin, leading Congress to authorize the use of military force.
1983 – Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo, the president of Upper Volta, was ousted in a coup d'état led by Thomas Sankara.
1995 – Yugoslav Wars: The Croatian Army initiated Operation Storm, the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and the largest European land battle since the Second World War.

Wenceslaus III of Bohemia (d. 1306)
Jeff Gordon (b. 1971)
Mariah May (b. 1998)
Keith H. Basso (d. 2013)

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Today's featured picture

Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971) was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz, with a career spanning five decades and several eras in the history of jazz. Armstrong received numerous accolades, including the Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal Performance for "Hello, Dolly!" in 1965, as well as a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1972. His influence crossed musical genres, with inductions into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, among others. This photograph, taken in 1947 by Harry Warnecke and Gus Schoenbaechler, shows Armstrong playing the trumpet in a blue suit against a yellow background. The image is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

Photograph credit: Harry Warnecke and Gus Schoenbaechler; restored by Yann Forget

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