[Wikipedia] January 24: SS Ohioan (1914)

SS Ohioan was a cargo ship built in 1914 for the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company. During World War I she was taken over by the United States Navy and commissioned as USS Ohioan (ID-3280). When the Panama canal was temporarily closed by landslides in late 1915, Ohioan sailed via the Straits of Magellan until the canal reopened in mid 1916. During World War I, USS Ohioan carried cargo, animals, and a limited number of passengers to France, and returned over 8,000 American troops after the Armistice, including the highly decorated American soldier Alvin York. After Ohioan's naval service ended in 1919, she was returned to her original owners. Ohioan's post-war career was relatively uneventful until 8 October 1936, when she ran aground near Seal Rock at the Golden Gate, the entrance to San Francisco Bay. Attempts to free the ship were unsuccessful and, because of the close proximity of the wreck to San Francisco, the grounded Ohioan drew large crowds to watch salvage operations. Angelo J. Rossi, the mayor of San Francisco, toured the wreck on 19 October. Ohioan's hulk caught fire in March 1937, and the wreck broke into two pieces in a storm in December. As late as 1939, some of Ohioan's rusty steel beams were still visible on the rocks. Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Ohioan_(1914)<http://en.wikipedia.org/wi… _________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 41: Roman Emperor Caligula was brutally murdered by Cassius Chaerea and the disgruntled Praetorian Guards. Caligula's uncle Claudius was proclaimed emperor in his place. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula) 1639: The Fundamental Orders, the first written constitution in North American history, was adopted in Connecticut. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_Orders_of_Connecticut) 1848: James W. Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California, leading to the California Gold Rush. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Gold_Rush) 1857: The University of Calcutta, the first modern university in the Indian subcontinent, was established in Calcutta, India. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Calcutta) 1984: The first Apple Macintosh, today known as the Macintosh 128K, went on sale, becoming the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a graphical user interface rather than a command line interface. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh) _______________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: overstate (v) To exaggerate; to state or claim too much. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/overstate) ______________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: Habit is necessary; it is the habit of having habits, of turning a trail into a rut, that must be incessantly fought against if one is to remain alive. --Edith Wharton (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edith_Wharton)