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A medieval depiction of a fortification being assaulted

Thesiege of Breteuil was theinvestment of theNorman town ofBreteuil, held by partisans ofCharles II, King of Navarre, by French forces between April and about 20 August 1356. It was interrupted on 5 July when a small English army relieved and resupplied the town. The French king,John II, attempted to bring the English to battle, but they evaded him and the siege was renewed. The French attracted praise for the splendour and high status of many of the participants, but made little progress as the town was well-garrisoned and stocked with food for a year. Attempts tomine under the walls were to no avail. In August a large mobilesiege tower was pushed up to the walls and an assault launched, but the tower was set on fire and the attack repulsed with many casualties. Taking Breteuil became a matter of prestige for John and he refused to take the army south to face amajor English offensive. Eventually the garrison was given free passage and a huge bribe to persuade them to depart. (Full article...)

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On this day

July 5:Fifth of July in New York

Coat of arms of the Regency of Algiers

1830 – Algiers surrendered toFrench invaders, ending theRegency of Algiers(coat of arms pictured).
1937 – TheHormel Foods Corporation introducedSpam, thecanned precooked meat product that would eventually enter into pop culture, folklore, and urban legend.
1922 –Brazilian Army rebels took overFort Copacabana andlaunched a rebellion inRio de Janeiro against PresidentEpitácio Pessoa and President-electArtur Bernardes.
1950 –Korean War: In the first encounter between North Korean and American forces, an unprepared and undisciplinedU.S. Army task force was routed at theBattle of Osan.
1990 –An explosion at a petrochemical plant inChannelview, Texas, killed 17 people and injured five others.

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William Rankine (5 July 1820 – 24 December 1872) was a Scottish mathematician and physicist. He was a founding contributor, withRudolf Clausius andLord Kelvin, to the science ofthermodynamics, particularly focusing onits First Law. He developed theRankine scale, aFahrenheit-based equivalent to theCelsius-basedKelvin scale of temperature. This undated photograph of Rankine was taken byThomas Annan.

Photograph credit:Thomas Annan; restored byAdam Cuerden

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