This day in history, August 16 

This day in history, August 16 

- The battle of Smolensk between the Russian army and French troops was the first major battle of the 1812 Patriotic War. In the course of a three-day battle in the Smolensk region, Russian troops, repelling attacks by superior enemy forces, did not allow the French to take the city by storm. This thwarted Napoleon’s plans, who intended, by occupying Smolensk, to cut off the first (Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly’s) and second (Peter Bagration’s) armies from Moscow, and break them one at a time. The Napoleonic troops lost up to 10,000-12,000 people, and Russians - 6,000-7,000 people in the battle. 

- In 1960, the independence of Cyprus, one of the British colonial possessions, was proclaimed. The juridical registration of independence became the Treaty of Establishment, Treaty of Guarantee and Treaty of Union adopted in the same year. The basis for these documents was the Zurich and London Agreements of 1959, which significantly restrict the sovereignty of the republic. 

- In 1930, the first sound color animated film was created. Yub Iwerks directed the animated CineColor film featuring his best character, Flip the Frog. The cartoon is a six-minute long and tells about the life of the protagonist.

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