A futile British light cavalry action against well-armed and well-prepared Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War, resulting in massive losses to the British.
Charge of the Light Brigade
Fact of the Day
The Tudor Privy Council would sometimes punish those who fell out of its favour by making them wait to be seen by the Star Chamber for days, weeks, or months in London, during which time they would run up huge lodging bills. Wolsey made De Carteret of Guernsey wait for over four years.
Quote of the Day
"There are decades when nothing happens; and there are weeks when decades happen.
"
~ Lenin
On This Day
41 Claudius was proclaimed Roman Emperor by the Praetorian Guard.
1327 Edward II was deposed by his wife, Isabella, and her lover, Roger Mortimer. They replaced him with his 10 year old son, Edward III, and for three years they ruled through him.
1533 King Henry VIII secretly married the newly-pregnant Anne Boleyn, even though he was still married to Catherine of Aragon.
1554 Thomas Wyatt gathered 4000 men in Kent, starting the Wyatt Rebellion against Queen Mary and her choice of Spanish husband.
1627 Father of modern chemistry, Robert Boyle, was born in Lismore, County Waterford, Ireland.
1942 Thailand declared war on the United States and Britain following intensive bombing by the Allies.
1945 The German offensive campaign in the Ardennes, which came to be known as the Battle of the Bulge, ended in Allied victory.