1944: While Royal Air Force Bomber Command conducted airstrikes at Berlin with 891 aircraft, American bombers drop 1,150 tons of bombs and incendiaries on the abbey on Monte Cassino, Italy. Despite the bombing, the abbey’s destruction results only in a propaganda coup for the Germans and does nothing to weaken the mountain’s defenses. Read about the events surrounding the attack on Monte Cassino on HistoryNet.com.


Monte Cassino

The ruins of the Abbey of Monte Cassino in Cassino, Italy, during World War II, 1944. It was destroyed by US bombers during the Battle of Monte Cassino (Jan - May 1944), in the belief that it was being used as a German stronghold.
Photo Credit: Keystone/Hulton Archive via Getty Images
1862: With Fort Donelson, Tennessee, surrounded, Confederate Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd launched an assault against Union troops in a breakout attempt, but Union Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant arrived in time to rally his men and counterattack, causing Floyd to lose his nerve and pull back inside the fort. 

1898: The U.S. Navy battleship Maine blew up in Cuba's Havana Harbor, with 258 of its crew killed by the explosion. The cause was never been absolutely ascertained, but it led the United States to declare war on Spain on April 25.

1900: British troops under Lieutenant-General John French relieved Kimberley, South Africa, breaking four months of being besieged by the Boers.

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