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Wreckage from the Battle of Villers-Bocage

The Battle of Villers-Bocage took place on 13 June 1944 during World War II. Following the D-Day landings on 6 June, the Germans established defences in front of Caen. The British attacked in an attempt to exploit a gap in the German defences west of the city. They reached Villers-Bocage without incident in the morning but were ambushed by Tiger I tanks as they left the town and numerous tanks, anti-tank guns and transport vehicles were destroyed. The Germans then attacked the town but were repulsed. The British withdrew west of Villers-Bocage that evening and repulsed another attack the next day. The British conduct in the battle was controversial because their withdrawal marked the end of the post–D-Day "scramble for ground" and the start of an attritional battle for Caen. Some historians wrote that the British attack was a failure caused by a lack of conviction among some senior commanders; others judged the British force to be insufficiently strong for the task. (Full article...)

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In the news (For today)

Narendra Modi

In the Indian general election, the National Democratic Alliance, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi (pictured), is re-elected with a reduced majority.
The Boeing Starliner spacecraft conducts its first crewed flight, carrying two astronauts to the International Space Station.
The CNSA Chang'e 6 completes sampling and takeoff from the far side of the Moon.
Claudia Sheinbaum is elected President of Mexico.

In two days

June 13

USS Jeannette

1881 – The Jeannette expedition to reach the North Pole from the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait came to an end when the USS Jeannette (pictured) was finally crushed and sank after having been trapped in ice for almost two years.
1952 – Soviet aircraft shot down a Swedish military plane carrying out signals-intelligence gathering operations, followed three days later by the shootdown of a second plane searching for the first one.
1969 – Governor of Texas Preston Smith signed a law converting a research arm of Texas Instruments into the University of Texas at Dallas.
1996 – After an 81-day standoff sparked by their refusal to be evicted from their foreclosed property in Jordan, Montana, the Christian Patriot group Montana Freemen surrendered to the FBI.
2013 – Some of the closest advisors and collaborators of Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas were arrested for corruption.

Henry Middleton (d. 1784)
Manuel Marques de Sousa, Count of Porto Alegre (b. 1804)
Charles Algernon Parsons (b. 1854)
Fran Allison (d. 1989)

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Featured picture (Check back later for the day after tomorrow's.)

The green kingfisher (Chloroceryle americana) is a species of bird in the kingfisher family, Alcedinidae. It is found from the southern United States, south through Central America, and in every mainland South American country except Chile. The green kingfisher is about 20 cm (7.9 in) long and weighs about 35 to 40 g (1.2 to 1.4 oz), with females being larger and heavier than males. It has various vocalisations, including one described as resembling "the striking of two pebbles together" and another as "a harsh, buzzy scold". This male green kingfisher, a member of the subspecies C. a. americana, was spotted close to the Cristalino River in the Pantanal, Brazil.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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