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Union artillery in action at Cane Hill

The battle of Cane Hill was fought during the American Civil War on November 28, 1862, near the town of Cane Hill, Arkansas. Union troops under James G. Blunt had pursued Confederate troops commanded by Thomas C. Hindman into northwestern Arkansas, and Hindman saw an opportunity to attack Blunt while the latter was isolated. Confederate cavalry under John S. Marmaduke moved to Cane Hill to collect supplies. Blunt moved to attack Marmaduke on November 27. The Union advance made contact with Confederate troopers the next morning. The Confederates fell back to an elevation known as Reed's Mountain. Blunt continued to pursue after the Confederates abandoned Reed's Mountain, but his leading elements ran into an ambush. The Confederates then presented a flag of truce as a ruse to buy time. Hindman's army and Blunt's reinforced command fought the Battle of Prairie Grove on December 7, which retained Union control of Missouri and northwestern Arkansas. (Full article...)

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On this day

November 28: Thanksgiving in the United States (2024); Bukovina Day in Romania

Skanderbeg

1443 – Having deserted the Ottoman army, Skanderbeg (pictured) arrived in the Albanian city of Krujë and, using a forged letter from Sultan Murad II to the governor of Krujë, became lord of the city.
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2016 – LaMia Flight 2933 crashed near Medellín, Colombia, killing 71 people, many of whom were players from Chapecoense Football Club.

Manuel I Komnenos (b. 1118)
Magnus Olsen (b. 1878)
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (d. 1962)
Helen of Greece and Denmark (d. 1982)

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Today's featured picture

The ocellated turkey (Meleagris ocellata) is a species of turkey residing primarily in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, as well as in parts of Belize and Guatemala. It is a relative of the North American wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), although it is somewhat smaller. The body feathers of both sexes are a mixture of bronze and green iridescent color, with neither sex possessing the beard typically found in wild turkeys. Tail feathers of both sexes are bluish-grey with an eye-shaped, blue-bronze spot near the end with a bright gold tip. These spots, or ocelli (for which the ocellated turkey is named), have been likened to the patterning typically found on peafowl. This ocellated turkey was photographed near Tikal in the Petén region of Guatemala.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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