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The Battle of Oroscopa was fought in late 151 BC between a Carthaginian army commanded by the general Hasdrubal and a Numidian force under its king, Masinissa, in what is now north western Tunisia. A peace treaty with Rome prohibited Carthage from waging war. Masinissa, an ally of Rome, exploited this to repeatedly raid Carthaginian territory. In 151 BC Carthage assembled an army under Hasdrubal and attempted to deter Masinissa's aggression against the town of Oroscopa. Masinissa lured the Carthaginians into an area of rough terrain and surrounded them. The Carthaginians expected their opponents to disperse, but Masinissa had forged a well-disciplined army and it was able to starve the Carthaginians into surrender. The Carthaginians were then treacherously attacked and many, perhaps most, were killed. Hasdrubal survived and returned to Carthage, where he was condemned to death in an attempt to placate Rome. But Rome launched a punitive expedition, starting the Third Punic War which ended in the complete destruction of Carthage in 146 BC. (Full article...)

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Martin Fehérváry

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On this day

April 29: International Quds Day (2022)

Buildings burned during the Los Angeles riots

1386 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania decisively won the Battle of the Vikhra River, forcibly making the Principality of Smolensk a vassal state.
1760 – Seven Years' War: France began an unsuccessful attempt to retake Quebec City, which had been captured by Britain.
1910 – Parliament passed the People's Budget, the first budget in British history with the express intent of redistributing wealth.
1992 – The acquittal of policemen who had beaten African-American motorist Rodney King sparked six days of civil unrest in Los Angeles (damage pictured), during which 63 people were killed.
1997 – The Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force, outlawing the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons in the 87 countries that had ratified the convention.

George Farquhar (d. 1707)
Marietta Blau (b. 1894)
Giacomo dalla Torre (d. 2020)

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Bruno Kreisky

The chancellor of Austria is the head of government of Austria, appointed by the president and viewed as the country's de facto chief executive. The chancellor chairs and leads the Cabinet, which also includes the vice-chancellor and the ministers. Following World War I, the office was established by the Provisional National Assembly on 30 October 1918 and named state chancellor of the Republic of German-Austria, and its first holder, Karl Renner, was appointed by the State Council. Since the institution of the republic, the People's Party and the Social Democratic Party have largely dominated Austrian politics; the People's Party (and its predecessor, the Christian Social Party) have led nineteen cabinets and served as a junior partner in eight, while the Social Democratic Party (formerly the Social Democratic Workers' Party) has led eleven and served as a junior partner in five. Bruno Kreisky (pictured) was the longest-serving chancellor, with more than thirteen years in office, while Arthur Seyss-Inquart was the shortest-serving chancellor, with two days in office, and Walter Breisky was the shortest-serving acting chancellor, with only one day in office. (Full list...)

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Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃). This photograph shows fluorescence and birefringence in a calcite crystal with a 445-nanometre laser.

Photograph credit: Jan Pavelka

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