Military History Anniversaries 15 FEB thru 14 MAR
Significant events in U.S. Military History for the next 30 days are:
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Feb 15 1898 – U.S. battleship Maine mysteriously blows up in Havana Harbor, Cuba killing
more than 260 crew members and bringing the United States closer to war with Spain.
Feb 15 1943 – WW2: The Germans break the American Army’s lines at the Fanid–Sened Sector
in Tunisia, North Africa.
Feb 15 1944 – WW2: The assault on Monte Cassino, Italy, begins
Monte Cassino in ruins
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Feb 15 1967 – Vietnam: Thirteen U.S. helicopters are shot down in one day in Vietnam
Feb 15 1989 - Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan: The Soviet Union officially announces that
all of its troops have left Afghanistan.
Feb 15 2003 – Iraq War: Protests against the Iraq war take place in over 600 cities worldwide. It
is estimated that between 8 million to 30 million people participate, making this the largest peace
demonstration in history.
Feb 16 1804 – 1Lt. Stephen Decatur led a successful raid into Tripoli Harbor to burn the U.S.
Navy frigate Philadelphia, which had fallen into the hands of pirates.
Feb 16 1862 – Civil War: Confederates surrender Ft. Donelson TN. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's
victory earned him the nickname 'Unconditional Surrender Grant.' Casualties and losses: US 2691
- CSA 13,846
Feb 16 1864 – Civil War: The H.L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a
warship, the USS Housatonic.
Feb 16 1865 – Civil War : Columbia, South Carolina is burned as Confederate forces flee from
advancing Union forces.
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Feb 16 1944 – WW2: Operation Hailstone begins. U.S. naval air, surface, and submarine attack
against Truk (Chuuk), Japan's main base in the central Pacific, in support of the Eniwetok
invasion.
Feb 16 1945 – WW2: American troops landed on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines.
Feb 16 1960 – The U.S. Navy submarine USS Triton begins Operation Sandblast, setting sail
from New London, Connecticut, to begin the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.
Feb 16 2006 - The last Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the
United States Army.
Feb 17 1864 – Civil War: The Confederate H.L. Hunley in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina
becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.
Feb 17 1865 – Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from
advancing Union forces.
Feb 17 1944 – WW2: Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ends in an U.S. victory on 22
February. Casualties and losses: US 1,096 - JP 2,693.
Feb 18 1865 – Civil War: Union troops force the Confederates to abandon Fort Anderson, N.C.
Feb 18 1865 – Civil War: Union forces under Major General William T. Sherman set the South
Carolina State House on fire during the burning of Columbia.
Feb 18 1955 – Cold War: Operation Teapot test shot "Wasp" is successfully detonated at the
Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp is the first of fourteen shots of the Teapot
series.
Teapot MET (Military Effects Test)
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Feb 19 1942 – WW2: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the executive order 9066, allowing
the United States military to relocate Japanese–Americans to Japanese internment camps.
Feb 19 1943 – WW2: USS Grampus (SS–207) sunk either by Japanese naval aircraft (958th
Kokutai) southeast of New Britain on 19 February or by destroyer Minegumo in Blackett Strait
on the night of 5–6 March. 71 killed
Feb 19 1943 – WW2: German troops of the Afrika Korps break through the Kasserine Pass,
defeating U.S. forces. U.S. troops retake the pass 5 days later. Casualties and losses: US 6,500
Axis 2,000.
Feb 19 1944 – WW2: The U.S. Eighth Air Force and Royal Air Force begin "Big Week," a series
of heavy bomber attacks against German aircraft production facilities.
Feb 19 1945 – WW2: Battle of Iwo Jima (Operation Detachment) – about 30,000 United States
Marines land on Iwo Jima commencing a battle that lasts 35 days. Casualties and losses: US
26,038 - JP 22,060.
Feb 19 1976 – Executive Order 9066, which led to the relocation of Japanese Americans to
internment camps, is rescinded by President Gerald R. Ford's Proclamation 4417
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Feb 19 1999 – President Bill Clinton issues a posthumous pardon for first African American
graduate of West Point, U.S. Army Lt. Henry Ossian Flipper.
Feb 20 1864 – Civil War: Confederate troops defeat a Union army sent to bring Florida into the
union at the Battle of Olustee, Fla. Casualties and losses: US 1,861
Feb 20 1942 – WW2: Lt. Edward O’Hare downs five out of nine Japanese bombers that are
attacking the carrier Lexington and becomes America's first World War II flying ace
Feb 20 1944 – WW2: The ‘Big Week’ began with American bomber raids on German aircraft
manufacturing centers. - CSA 946.
Feb 21 1862 – Civil War: The Texas Rangers win a Confederate victory in the Battle of Val
Verde, NM. Casualties and losses: US 975 - CSA 150 to 230.
Feb 21 1916 – WW I: In France, the Battle of Verdun begins.
Feb 21 1945 – WW2: Japanese Kamikaze planes sink the escort carrier Bismarck Sea and
damage the Saratoga.
Feb 21 1951 – Korea: The U. S. Eighth Army launches Operation Killer, a counterattack to push
Chinese forces north of the Han River in Korea.
Feb 22 1847 – Mexican–American War: The Battle of Buena Vista – 5,000 American troops
defeat 15,000 Mexicans. Casualties and losses: US 746 - MEX 3,727.
Feb 22 1899 – Filipino forces led by General Antonio Luna counterattacks for the first time
against the American forces during the Philippine-American War. The Filipinos failed to regain
Manila from the Americans.
Feb 22 1909 – The sixteen battleships of the Great White Fleet, led by the USS Connecticut (BB–
18), return to the United States after a voyage around the world.
Feb 22 1915 – WWI: Germany institutes unrestricted submarine warfare.
Feb 22 1942 – WW2: Franklin Roosevelt orders Gen. Douglas MacArthur to leave the
Philippines.
Feb 22 1944 - WW2: American aircraft mistakenly bomb the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem,
Enschede and Deventer, resulting in 800 dead in Nijmegen alone.
Feb 22 1973 – Cold War: Following President Richard Nixon's visit to the People's Republic of
China, the two countries agree to establish liaison offices.
Feb 22 1984 – Britain and the U.S. send warships to the Persian Gulf following an Iranian
offensive against Iraq.
Feb 23 1836 – Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna began his 13 day siege of the
Alamo Spanish mission in San Antonio, Texas.
The Alamo, as drawn in 1854
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Feb 23 1847 – Mexican–American War: Battle of Buena Vista – In Mexico, American troops
under General Zachary Taylor defeat Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
Feb 23 1903 – Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States ‘in perpetuity’.
Feb 23 1942 – WW2: A Japanese submarine surfaced off the coast of California, shelling the
coastline near the town of Ellwood. The first Axis explosives to hit American soil.
Feb 23 1945 – WW2: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of Marines and a commonly
forgotten U.S. Navy Corpsman, reach the top of Mt. Suribachi and are photographed raising the
American flag. The photo would later win a Pulitzer Prize and become the model for the national
USMC War Memorial.
Feb 23 1945 – WW2: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by American forces.
Feb 23 1945 – WW2: The 11th Airborne Division, with Filipino guerrillas, free the captives of
the Los Baños internment camp.
Feb 23 1967 – Vietnam: U.S. troops begin the largest offensive of the war, near the Cambodian
border.
Feb 23 1991 – Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus
starting the ground phase of the war.
Feb 23 2008 - A United States Air Force B-2 Spirit crashes on Guam. It is the first operational
loss of a B-2.
Feb 24 1813 – War of 1812: The American ship USS Hornet sank the British sloop HMS
Peacock in an action off the coast of Guiana (north coast of South America.
Feb 24 1917 – WW I: The U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann
Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to
Mexico if Mexico declares war on the United States.
Feb 24 1942 – Battle of Los Angeles: A UFO flying over wartime Los Angeles causes a blackout
order at 2:25 a.m. and attracts a barrage of anti–aircraft fire, ultimately killing 3 civilians.
Feb 24 1944 – WW2: Merrill’s Marauders, a specially trained group of American soldiers, begin
their ground campaign against Japan into Burma.
Feb 24 1968 – Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted; South Vietnam recaptures Hué.
Feb 25 1933 – USS Ranger, the first U.S. Navy ship to be built solely as an aircraft carrier, is
launched.
Feb 25 1991 – Gulf War: An Iraqi scud missile hits an American military barracks in Dhahran,
Saudi Arabia killing 28 U.S. Army Reservists from Pennsylvania.
Feb 25 1968 – Vietnam: 135 unarmed citizens of Ha My village in South Vietnam's Quang Nam
Province are killed and buried en masse by South Korean troops in what would come to be
known as the Ha My massacre.
Feb 26 1943 – U.S. Flying Fortresses and Liberators pound German docks and U–boat lairs at
Wilhelmshaven.
Feb 26 1991 – Gulf War: On Baghdad Radio Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the
withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
Feb 26 1991 – Gulf War: United States Army forces capture the town of Al Busayyah, Iraq.
Feb 27 1776 – American Revolution: the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in North Carolina
breaks up a Loyalist militia.
Feb 27 1864 – Civil War: The first Union prisoners arrive at Andersonville Prison in Georgia.
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Feb 27 1944 – WW2: USS Grayback (SS–208) missing. Most likely succumbed to damage
inflicted by land–based Japanese naval aircraft suffered the day before in the East China Sea. 80
killed
Feb 27 1991 – Gulf War: U.S. President George H. W. Bush announces that "Kuwait is
liberated".
Feb 28 1844 – A gun on USS Princeton explodes while the boat is on a Potomac River cruise,
killing eight people, including two United States Cabinet members.
Feb 28 1863 – Civil War: The Confederate ship Nashville was destroyed by the Union ironclad
vessel USS Montauk on the Ogeechee River in Georgia.
Feb 28 1893 – The USS Indiana, the lead ship of her class and the first battleship in the United
States Navy comparable to foreign battleships of the time, is launched.
Feb 28 1916 – WW I: Beginning of the battle of Verdun, in France, which lasted ten months.
Feb 28 1942 – The heavy cruiser USS Houston (CA–30) is sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait with
693 crew members killed, along with HMAS Perth (D29) which lost 375 men.
Feb 28 1945 – WW2: U.S. tanks break the natural defense line west of the Rhine and cross the
Erft River.
Feb 28 1991 – The first Gulf War ends.
Feb 28 1994 – U.S. warplanes shoot down four Serb aircraft over Bosnia in the first NATO use of
force in the troubled area.
Feb 29 1864 – American Civil War: Kilpatrick–Dahlgren Raid fails – plans to free 15,000 Union
soldiers being held near Richmond, Virginia are thwarted.
Feb 29 1944 – WW2: The Admiralty Islands are invaded in Operation Brewer led by American
General Douglas MacArthur.
Feb 29 1944 – WW2: USS Trout (SS–202) missing. Most likely sunk by Japanese destroyer
Asashimo in Philippine Sea. 81 killed.
Feb 29 1972 – Vietnam War: Vietnamization – South Korea withdraws 11,000 of its 48,000
troops from Vietnam.
Mar 01 1916 – WWI: Germany begins attacking ships in the Atlantic.
Mar 01 1941 – WW2: German troops invade Bulgaria.
Mar 01 1942 – WW2: 3 day Battle of Java Sea ends. US suffers a major naval defeat.
Mar 01 1945 – WW2: U.S. infantry regiment captures Mönchengladbach, Germany.
Mar 01 1950 – Cold War: Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union by disclosing
top secret atomic bomb data.
Mar 01 1954 – Cold War: The Castle Bravo, a 15–megaton hydrogen bomb, is detonated on
Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by
the United State.
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The Shrimp (code name Castle Bravo) device in its shot cab
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Mar 01 1961 – Cold War: President John F. Kennedy issues an executive order establishing the
Peace Corps. It proved to be one of the most innovative and highly publicized Cold War
programs set up by the United States.
Mar 01 1965 – Vietnam: Ambassador Maxwell Taylor informs South Vietnamese Premier Phan
Huy Quat that the United States is preparing to send 3,500 U.S. Marines to Vietnam to protect the
U.S. airbase at Da Nang.
Mar 01 2002 – U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins in eastern Afghanistan
lasting until 6 Mar.. Casualties and losses: U.S. 97 - Taliban 23 confirmed KIA.
Mar 02 1776 – American Revolution: Patriot militia units arrest the Royal Governor of Georgia
James Wright and attempt to prevent capture of supply ships in the Battle of the Rice Boats.
Mar 02 1836 – Texas Revolution: Declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from
Mexico.
Mar 02 1941 – WW2: First German military units enter Bulgaria after it joined the Axis Pact.
Mar 02 1943 – WW2: Battle of the Bismarck Sea – U.S. and Australian forces sink Japanese
convoy ships.
Mar 02 1965 – Vietnam: The US and South Vietnamese Air Force begin Operation Rolling
Thunder, a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam.
Mar 02 1991 – Gulf War: Battle at Rumaila Oil Field brings end to the 1991 Gulf War.
Mar 02 2002 – Iraq War: U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins (ending on
March 19 after killing 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, with 11 Western troop fatalities).
Mar 02 2004 – Iraq War: Al Qaeda carries out the Ashoura Massacre killing 170 and wounding
over 500.
Mar 03 1776 – American Revolution: The first amphibious landing of the United States Marine
Corps begins the Battle of Nassau.
Mar 03 1779 – American Revolution: The Continental Army is routed at the Battle of Brier Creek
near Savannah, Georgia.
Mar 03 1863 – Civil War: U.S. Congress passes a conscription act that produces the first wartime
draft of U.S. citizens in American history.
Mar 03 1931 – The United States adopts The Star–Spangled Banner as its national anthem.
Mar 03 1942 – WW2: Ten Japanese warplanes raid the town of Broome Western Australia
killing more than 100 people.
Mar 03 1942 – WW2: USS Perch (SS–176) scuttled after severe damage from Japanese
destroyers Ushio and Sazanami. 60 POWs, 6 later died
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Mar 03 1945 – WW2: The American and Filipino troops liberate Manila, Philippines after 30
days of fighting.
Mar 04 1776 – American Revolution: The Americans capture "Dorchester Heights" dominating
the port of Boston Massachusetts.
Mar 04 1776 – American Revolution: The Continental Army fortifies Dorchester Heights with
cannon, leading the British troops to abandon the Siege of Boston.
Mar 04 1814 – Americans defeat the British at the Battle of Longwoods between London, Ontario
and Thamesville, near present-day Wardsville, Ontario.
Mar 04 1944 – WW2: 1st US bombing of Berlin Germany.
Mar 04 2002 – Afghanistan: Seven American Special Operations Forces soldiers are killed as
they attempt to infiltrate the Shahi Kot Valley on a low-flying helicopter reconnaissance mission.
Mar 05 1770 – Boston Massacre. British troops kill 5 in crowd. Crispus Attackus becomes 1st
black man to die for American freedom.
Mar 05 1927 – 1,000 US marines land in China to protect American property
Mar 05 1942 – WW2: US Navy's Mobile Construction Battalions "SEABEES" officially formed
and placed in action in New Caledonia an island in the southwest Pacific as they landed and
began construction of base facilities.
Mar 05 1945 – WW2: Allies bomb The Hague, Netherlands. During the 128 raids casualties
amounted to 884 killed and a further 631 wounded.
Mar 05 1945 – WW2: US 7th Army Corps capture Cologne, Germany.
Mar 05 1946 – Ho Chi Minh signs an agreement with France which recognizes Vietnam as an
autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union.
Mar 06 1836 – Texas Revolution: Battle of the Alamo – After a thirteen day siege by an army of
3,000 Mexican troops, the 187 Texas volunteers, including frontiersman Davy Crockett and
colonel Jim Bowie, defending the Alamo are killed and the fort is captured. Mexican losses are
about 600.
Mar 06 1865 – Civil War: Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida. Casualties and losses: US 148 CSA 26.
Mar 06 1943 – WW2: Battle at Medenine North–Africa: Rommel’s assault attack.
Mar 06 1944 – WW2: U.S. heavy bombers staged the first full–scale American raid on Berlin.
Mar 06 1945 – WW2: Cologne is captured by American Troops.
Mar 06 1991 – Following Iraq's capitulation in the Persian Gulf conflict Pres Bush told Congress
that "aggression is defeated. The war is over"
Mar 07 1862 – Civil War: Union forces defeat Confederate troops at Pea Ridge in northwestern
Arkansas. Casualties and losses: US 1384 - CSA 2000.
Mar 07 1942 – WW2: Japanese troops land on New Guinea.
Mar 07 1945 – WW2: American troops seize the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine River at
Remagen.
Mar 07 1951 – Korean War: U.N. forces in Korea under General Matthew Ridgeway launch "
1951 - Korean War: Operation Ripper - United Nations troops led by General Matthew
Ridgeway begin an assault against Chinese forces. an offensive to straighten out the U.N. front
lines against the Chinese.
Mar 07 1968 – Vietnam War: The Battle of Saigon begun on the day of the Tet Offensive ends.
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Mar 07 1968 – Vietnam War: The United States and South Vietnamese military begin Operation
Truong Cong Dinh to root out Viet Cong forces from the area surrounding My Tho.
Mar 07 1971 – Vietnam War: A thousand U.S. planes bomb Cambodia and Laos.
Mar 08 1782 – American Revolution: Gnadenhütten massacre - Ninety-six Native Americans in
Gnadenhutten, Ohio, who had converted to Christianity are killed by Pennsylvania militiamen in
retaliation for raids carried out by other Indians.
Mar 08 1862 – Civil War: On the second day of the Battle of Pea Ridge Confederate force
including some Indian troops under General Earl Van Dorn surprise Union troop but the Union
troops win the battle. Casualties & losses: US 1384 - CSA 2000.
Mar 08 1942 – WW2: Japanese troops capture Rangoon Burma
Mar 08 1943 – WW2: Japanese forces attack American troops on Hill 700 in Bougainville. The
battle will last five days.
Mar 08 1965 – Vietnam: More than 4,000 Marines land at Da Nang in South Vietnam and
become the first U.S. combat troops in Vietnam
Mar 09 1847 – Mexican American War: The first large–scale amphibious assault in U.S. history
is launched in the Siege of Veracruz. Casualties & losses: US 60 - Mex 400
Mar 09 1862 – Civil War: The USS Monitor and CSS Virginia fight to a draw in the Battle of
Hampton Roads the first fight between two ironclad warships.
Mar 09 1916 – Pancho Villa leads nearly 500 Mexican raiders in an attack against Columbus,
New Mexico.
Mar 09 1944 – WW2: Japanese troops counter–attack American forces on Hill 700 in
Bougainville in a battle that would last five days.
Mar 09 1945 – WW2: U.S. B–29 bombers launched incendiary bomb attacks against Japan
resulting in an estimated 100,000 deaths.
Mar 09 1966 – Vietnam: The North Vietnamese capture a Green Beret camp at Ashau Valley.
Mar 09 1968 – Vietnam: General William Westmoreland asks for 206,000 more troops in
Vietnam.
Mar 10 1942 – WW2: General Douglas MacArthur abandons Corregidor.
Mar 10 1945 – WW2: The Imperial Japanese Navy attempts a large–scale kamikaze attack on the
U.S. Pacific fleet anchored at Ulithi atoll in Operation Tan No. 2
Mar 10 1953 – Korean War: North Korean gunners at Wonsan fire on the USS Missouri. The
ship responds by firing 998 rounds at the enemy position.
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Mar 10 1975 – Vietnam: The North Vietnamese Army attacks the South Vietnamese town of
Ban Me Thout the offensive will end with total victory in Vietnam.
 Mar 11 1863 – Civil War: Union troops under General Ulysess S. Grant give up their
preparations to take Vicksburg after failing to pass Fort Pemberton north of Vicksburg.
 Mar 11 1865 – Civil War: Union General William Sherman and his forces occupy Fayetteville
N.C.
 Mar 11 1942 – WWI: General Douglas MacArthur leaves Bataan Philippines for Australia.
 Mar 11 1945 – WW2: The Imperial Japanese Navy attempts a large-scale kamikaze attack on the
U.S. Pacific Fleet anchored at Ulithi atoll in Operation Tan No. 2.
 Mar 12 1920 – USS H–1 (SS–28) foundered and sunk off Santa Margarita Island, California. 4
died
 Mar 12 1947 – Cold War: The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of
Communism. Historians often consider it as the start of the Cold War.
 Mar 13 1862 – Civil War: The U.S. federal government forbids all Union army officers to return
fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and setting the stage for
the Emancipation Proclamation.
 Mar 13 1865 – Civil War: The Confederate States of America agree to the use of African
American troops.
 Mar 13 1943 – WW2: In Bougainville, Japanese troops end their assault on American forces at
Hill 700.
 Mar 14 1780 – American Revolution: Spanish forces capture Fort Charlotte in Mobile, Alabama,
the last British frontier post capable of threatening New Orleans in Spanish Louisiana.
 Mar 14 1864 – Civil War: Union troops occupy Fort de Russy, Louisiana.
 Mar 14 1916 – WWI: Battle of Verdun – German attack on Mort–Homme ridge West of Verdun.
 Mar 14 1947 The United States signs a 99–year lease on naval bases in the Philippines.
 Mar 14 1951 – Korean War: U.N. forces recapture Seoul for the second time during the Korean
War.
 Mar 14 1954 – The Viet Minh launch an assault against the French Colonial Forces at Dien Bien
Phu.
 Mar 15 1781 – American Revolution: Battle of Guilford Court House, SC 1,900 British troops
under General Charles Cornwallis defeat an American force numbering 4,400. Casualties and
losses: US 1,272 - GB 538.
 Mar 15 1916 – President Woodrow Wilson sends 12,000 United States troops over the U.S.–
Mexico border to pursue Pancho Villa.
 Mar 15 1943 – WW2: USS Triton (SS–201) sunk either by Japanese destroyer Satsuki or
submarine chaser Ch 24 north of Admiralty Islands. 74 killed.
 Mar 15 1944 – WW2: Battle of Monte Cassino - Cassino, Italy is destroyed by Allied bombing.
 Mar 15 1989 – VA elevated to a Cabinet–level agency under Public Law 100–527.
[Source: Various Feb 2014 ++]
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