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15th-century illustration of the siege

The siege of Hennebont took place between late May and late June 1342 when the forces of Charles of Blois conducted an unsuccessful siege of the fortified port of Hennebont, commanded by Joanna of Montfort. The conflict was a part of the Breton Civil War, complicated by the pre-existing Hundred Years' War between France and England. Philip VI of France provided Charles, his nephew, with an army; this overran eastern Brittany and moved on Hennebont. On arrival part of the army attacked some of the town's defenders who were formed up outside its gate, but the French were pushed back in a disorderly retreat (pictured). The Montfortists pursued, inflicting many casualties and burning the French camp. Two days later, the French launched a series of better-planned assaults, but all were repulsed. The main French force moved on, leaving a detachment to attempt to starve the town into surrender. In late June, after a small English force had reinforced the town by sea, this too left. (Full article...)

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In Myanmar, an explosion at a Ta'ang National Liberation Army base leaves 43 people dead.
In Twenty20 cricket, the Indian Premier League concludes with Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeating Gujarat Titans in the final (player of the match Virat Kohli pictured).
Following the collapse of Evika Siliņa's coalition, Andris Kulbergs is appointed prime minister of Latvia.
Pope Leo XIV issues his first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas, which expresses concerns about artificial intelligence.

On this day

June 6: National Day of Sweden; Queensland Day in Queensland, Australia

Fuad Stephens

1513 – War of the League of Cambrai: Milanese forces with Swiss mercenaries defeated the French in Novara, forcing them to withdraw from the Duchy of Milan and Italy.
1894 – Governor Davis Hanson Waite ordered the Colorado state militia to protect and support miners engaged in a five-month strike in Cripple Creek.
1971 – Vietnam War: Australian forces attacked a heavily fortified North Vietnamese base camp at the Battle of Long Khánh.
1976 – A plane crashed near Kota Kinabalu International Airport, Malaysia, killing politicians Fuad Stephens (pictured) and Peter Joinud Mojuntin, along with nine others.
2021 – A man rammed a pickup truck into Muslim Pakistani Canadian pedestrians in Ontario, Canada, killing four members of the same family.

Robert Passelewe (d. 1252)
John A. Macdonald (d. 1891)
Maria Alyokhina (b. 1988)
Rayan Aït-Nouri (b. 2001)

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Today's featured picture

A jewellery chain is a metal chain used in jewellery to encircle parts of the body or to support decorative charms and pendants. Jewellery chains are typically made from precious metals such as gold and silver, and have been worn since antiquity, with examples known from ancient Babylonia, Egypt, Greece and Rome. This gold chain, dating from the late 16th century and now in the collection of Livrustkammaren (the Swedish royal armoury), comprises 48 oval links alternating between garnet-set and rock-crystal-set designs, decorated with blue and white enamel. It may be a smaller version of King Charles IX's chain for the Order of Jehova, created in 1607, although another theory suggests that it was made by the goldsmith Ruprecht Miller and worn by King Gustavus Adolphus at his declaration of authority in 1611.

Artefact credit: possibly Ruprecht Miller; photographed by Erik Lernestål

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