April 27, 1805 – After marching 500 miles from Egypt, U.S. agent William Eaton leads a small force of U.S. Marines and Berber mercenaries against the Tripolitan port city of Derna. The Marines and Berbers were on a mission to depose Yusuf Karamanli, the ruling pasha of Tripoli, who had seized power from his brother, Hamet Karamanli, a pasha who was sympathetic to the United States.
The First Barbary War had begun four years earlier, when U.S. President Thomas Jefferson ordered U.S. Navy vessels to the Mediterranean Sea in protest of continuing raids against U.S. ships by pirates from the Barbary states–Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripolitania. American sailors were often abducted along with the captured booty and ransomed back to the United States at an exorbitant price.
After two years of minor confrontations, sustained action began in June 1803, when a small U.S. expeditionary force attacked Tripoli harbor in present-day Libya. In April 1805, a major American victory came during the Derna campaign, which was undertaken by U.S. land forces in North Africa. Supported by the heavy guns of the USS Argus and the USS Hornet, Marines and Arab mercenaries under William Eaton captured Derna and deposed Yusuf Karamanli.
Lieutenant Presley O’ Bannon, commanding the Marines, performed so heroically in the battle that Hamet Karamanli presented him with an elaborately designed sword (Mameluke) that now serves as the pattern for the swords carried by Marine officers. The phrase “to the shores of Tripoli,” from the official song of the U.S. Marine Corps, also has its origins in the Derna campaign
Monteriggioni is a medieval walled town, perched on a natural hill, built by the Sienese in 1214-1919 as a front line in their wars against Florence, taking command of the Via Cassia that passes through the Val d'Elsa and Val Staggia to the west. During the conflict between Siena and Florence in the Middle Ages, the city was strategically placed as a defense structure. It also withstood many attacks from both the Florentines and the troops of the Bishop of Volterra.Photo by Max Lazzi
In the Fall of 1944, Bing Crosby toured Allied Air Bases in England. He was then at the height of his ever growing popularity and even though Christmas was 3 months away, his singing of “White Christmas” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” were the highlights of his every stop. On September 2, 1944, he performed a concert at the Airbase for the 381st Bomb Group in Ridgewell, England. The 381st didn’t fly a mission that day, so the entire base filled Hangar 1, where the concert was held. The enthusiastic airmen and ground staff
literally hung from the rafters, showing their enthusiasm for his singing and the message of his two iconic Christmas songs with raucous shouts and applause. The previous night he had sung at the Stage Door Canteen, a popular London hangout for Allied troops.
