There was a Dutch proposal to build battleships in 1912, after years of
concern over the expansion of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the
withdrawal of allied British warships from the China Station. Only four
coastal defense ships were planned, but naval experts and some
politicians believed that dreadnoughts would provide a stronger defense
for the Dutch East Indies. In August 1913, a Royal Commission
recommended acquiring nine battleships to protect the colony from attack
and help guarantee the country's neutrality in Europe. Five of these
would be based in the Dutch East Indies, while the other four would
operate out of the Netherlands. The proposal led to a debate over how to
best protect the colony, and the question of how to share the cost of
the ships was not settled until July 1914. After considering the
recommendations, the Dutch Government decided to acquire four
battleships, and sought parliamentary approval in August 1914. However,
the proposal was withdrawn following the outbreak of the First World War
that month. A new royal commission into Dutch defense needs held after
the war did not recommend that battleships be procured and none were
ever ordered.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_1913_battleship_proposal>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1506:
Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania
achieved one of the greatest Lithuanian victories against the Tatars in
the Battle of Kletsk.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kletsk>
1777:
American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Oriskany, one of the
bloodiest battles in the North American theater of the war, was fought
about six miles (10 km) east of Fort Stanwix, New York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Oriskany>
1806:
The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved by its last emperor,
Francis II, during the aftermath of the War of the Third Coalition.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor>
1966:
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan became emir and ruler of Abu
Dhabi, succeeding his brother, Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who
was deposed in a bloodless coup d'état.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zayed_bin_Sultan_Al_Nahyan>
1988:
New York City Police officers charged a crowd protesting a
curfew for the previously 24-hour Tompkins Square Park, sparking a riot
that led to more than 100 complaints of police brutality.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tompkins_Square_Park_Riot_(1988)>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
Olympiad:
1. (historical) A period of four years, by which the ancient Greeks
reckoned time, being the interval from one celebration of the Olympic
games to another, beginning with the victory of Corbus in the foot race,
which took place in the year 776 b.c.; as, the era of the olympiads.
2. An occurrence of the Olympic games.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Olympiad>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am part of all that I have met; Yet all experience is an arch
wherethro' Gleams that untravell'd world, whose margin fades For ever
and for ever when I move.
--Alfred, Lord Tennyson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alfred,_Lord_Tennyson>