the last pair of the extinct species, found incubating an egg, was killed (1844)
became independent after 132 years of French rule (1962)
"Up men to your posts! Don't forget today that you are from old Virginia."
Pickett's Charge was repulsed on this date in 1863 on the final day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Union troops, under General George Meade, triumphed over General Robert E. Lee's Confederate soldiers, in the bloodiest battle of America's Civil War. General George Pickett's division attacked the Union center at Cemetery Ridge. Confederate casualties numbered over 7,000 — more than half their forces. Though the war went on for nearly two more years, the Gettysburg Campaign was considered to be its turning point. Years later, when asked why Pickett's charge at Gettysburg failed, Pickett was said to have responded, "I've always thought the Yankees had something to do with it."
