TODAY IN HISTORY

In 1147, the armies of the Second Crusade were destroyed by the Saracens at Dorylaeum in modern Turkey. The Crusaders went on with fruitless campaigns against Damascus, Syria.

In 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, author of “The Canterbury Tales,” died in London.

In 1415, an English army under Henry V defeated a far stronger French force at Agincourt, France. The victory secured popular support in England for future military ventures in France, and became one of the proudest moments of English military history.

In 1854, “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” made famous by the Alfred Lord Tennyson poem, took place during the Crimean War. A confused order during the battle of Balaklava sent the English brigade of 600 men and horses directly into a stronghold of the Russian army. About 40 per cent of the brigade was lost.

In 1881, artist Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain. He died on April 8, 1973.

In 1917, the Russian Revolution began.