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General depot at Ashchurch, where thousands of US personnel worked

American logistics in the Normandy campaign played a key role in the success of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of northwest Europe during World War II. By June 1944, some 1,526,965 US troops were in the UK, of whom 459,511 were in the Services of Supply. The First United States Army was supported over the Omaha and Utah Beaches, and through the Mulberry artificial port at Omaha that was specially constructed for the purpose. The Mulberry port was abandoned after it was damaged by a storm on 19–22 June. During the first seven weeks after D-Day, the advance was much slower than the Overlord plan had anticipated, and the lodgment area much smaller. The nature of the fighting in the Normandy bocage country created shortages of certain items, particularly artillery and mortar ammunition, and there were unexpectedly high rates of loss of bazookas, Browning automatic rifles, and M7 grenade launchers. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Sofía Otero

... that the portrayal of a transgender child by Sofía Otero (pictured) made her the youngest actor to win the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance?
... that Carly Rae Jepsen recorded over 65 songs for The Loneliest Time and created another album from its outtakes?
... that at age 14, footballer Lara Esponda was the youngest goalkeeper to debut in the top division of women's football in Argentina?
... that Tesla, Inc. is the only major U.S. automobile manufacturer with no unionized American plants?
... that Chief Rabbi of Madrid Yehuda Benasouli's first language was Castilian Spanish, but he also knew Hebrew, French, Arabic, Ladino, Haketia, and some English?
... that weeks after its CEO said the chain had no plans to open or close stores, Store of Knowledge filed for bankruptcy and initiated a liquidation?
... that nearing the end of his tenure as mayor of Tegal, Indonesia, Adi Winarso took part in a talkshow with his former political competitors?
... that Margaret Thatcher once bought Wilberforce a tin of sardines in a Moscow supermarket?

In the news

Tony Bennett

American singer Tony Bennett (pictured) dies at the age of 96.
Flooding and landslides in South Korea leave at least 40 people dead and 6 others missing.
In the United States, actors in the SAG-AFTRA trade union go on strike, joining writers in the Writers Guild of America strike.
Flooding and landslides in northern India leave at least 100 people dead.

On this day

July 24: Pioneer Day in Utah, United States (1847)

Charles de Gaulle

1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son, James VI.
1920 – Franco-Syrian War: At the Battle of Maysalun forces of the Arab Kingdom of Syria were defeated by a French army moving to occupy the territory allocated to them by the San Remo conference.
1923 – The Treaty of Lausanne was signed to settle part of the partition of the Ottoman Empire, establishing the boundaries of Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey.
1967 – During a speech in Montreal, French president Charles de Gaulle (pictured) declared "Long live free Quebec!", a statement that was interpreted as support for Quebec independence from Canada.
1998 – A gunman entered the United States Capitol and opened fire, killing two police officers.

Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid (d. 946)
Simón Bolívar (b. 1783)
Ada Baker (d. 1949)
Ingrid Sischy (d. 2015)

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From today's featured list

Cercidiphyllum japonicum

There are eighteen families in Saxifragales, Vitales and Zygophyllales, three orders of flowering plants. Along with the COM clade, the nitrogen-fixing clade and the malvids, they constitute the superrosids, a group of around 150 related families, including the rose family. The order Saxifragales includes fruit-bearing shrubs, woody vines, succulents, aquatics, and many ornamental trees and garden plants, including stonecrops, currants and witch-hazels. Peonies are bred by horticulturists and widely cultivated in temperate gardens. Cercidiphyllum japonicum (tree pictured), the largest tree species native to Japan, is used to make boards for the game of Go. Vitales and Zygophyllales include trees, shrubs, vines and herbaceous plants. (Full list...)

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USS Commodore Perry was a 512-long-ton (520-tonne) steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the first year of the American Civil War. She was named after Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, a naval officer who had commanded American forces on Lake Erie in the War of 1812. From January to February 1862, Commodore Perry was part of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, taking part in the attack, in cooperation with the Union Army, which resulted in the surrender of Roanoke Island by the Confederate States of America. She participated in several other campaigns through 1862, including the capture of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and army–navy expeditions against Franklin, Virginia, and Hertford, North Carolina. From 1863 until the end of the war, she was engaged in patrols, both inland and in Virginia coastal waters. Commodore Perry was decommissioned and sold in 1865. This albumen silver print of Commodore Perry on the Pamunkey River was taken from a glass negative captured by the Civil War photographer Timothy H. O'Sullivan.

Photograph credit: Timothy H. O'Sullivan; restored by Adam Cuerden

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