HMS Agincourt was a British dreadnought built with more turreted heavy
guns (fourteen) and more main turrets (seven) than any other battleship,
before or since. Originally ordered by Brazil during a South American
naval arms race, the ship was purchased from Brazil by the Ottoman
Empire while under construction and renamed Sultan Osman I, after the
empire's founder. When the dreadnought was nearly complete, World War I
broke out. The British Admiralty, fearing an Ottoman–German alliance,
seized the ship for the Royal Navy, together with another Ottoman
dreadnought being built in Britain, the Reşadiye. This act contributed
to the decision of the Ottoman government to join the Central Powers, as
the payments for both ships were complete. The renamed Agincourt joined
the Grand Fleet in the North Sea and, apart from the Battle of Jutland
in 1916, spent most of the war on patrols and exercises. The dreadnought
was put into reserve in 1919 and—after abortive attempts to sell the
ship back to Brazil—was sold for scrap in 1922 to comply with the
Washington Naval Treaty.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Agincourt_(1913)>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1506:
The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards (modern soldier
pictured) arrived at the Vatican in Rome to serve as security for the
Pope.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Guard>
1689:
The Convention Parliament convened to justify the overthrow of
James II, the last Roman Catholic king of England, who had vacated the
throne when he fled to France in 1688.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_II_of_England>
1905:
Russian Revolution: Peaceful demonstrators, led by Father
Gapon, a Russian Orthodox priest, were massacred outside the Winter
Palace in St. Petersburg.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Sunday_(1905)>
1946:
Iran Crisis: The Republic of Mahabad declared its independence,
seeking autonomy for the Kurds within Iran.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Mahabad>
2006:
Aymaran Evo Morales was inaugurated as President of Bolivia,
the country's first democratically elected, fully Amerindian leader.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
come out of the woodwork:
(idiomatic) to appear or emerge unexpectedly or inexplicably, frequently
in large numbers or quantity.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/come_out_of_the_woodwork>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Man, whence is he? Too bad to be the work of a god, too good for
the work of chance.
--Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gotthold_Ephraim_Lessing>