The Schichau class consisted of 22 torpedo boats built for the Austro-
Hungarian Navy between 1885 and 1891. Initially powered by steam from a
locomotive boiler and armed with two 37 mm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss guns and
two 356 mm (14 in) torpedo tubes, they all received two Yarrow boilers
and a second funnel between 1900 and 1910. Ten were converted into
minesweepers between 1911 and 1913. One boat was discarded in 1911 and
the rest saw active service as part of local defence forces for Adriatic
naval bases during World War I. The nine torpedo boats which survived
were also converted into minesweepers in 1917. After the war, sixteen of
the boats were allocated to Italy and four to the Royal Yugoslav Navy.
All of the boats had been discarded by 1929 except for one Yugoslav
vessel. Captured during the 1941 Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, it served
with the Italians and later the Germans. It was lost sometime after
September 1943. (This article is part of a featured topic: Ships of
the Royal Yugoslav Navy.).
Read more:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Ships_of_the_Royal_Yugoslav_Navy>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1789:
The Power of Sympathy by William Hill Brown, widely considered
to be the first American novel, was published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Sympathy>
1919:
The First Dáil (members pictured) convened at the Mansion
House in Dublin and adopted a declaration of independence calling for
the establishment of the Irish Republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_D%C3%A1il>
1972:
Tripura, formerly part of the independent Twipra Kingdom,
became a state of India.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripura>
2017:
An estimated five million people participated in worldwide
demonstrations to advocate for legislation and policies on human rights
and other issues.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Women%27s_March>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
pomander:
1. (countable, uncountable, historical) A mixture of aromatic
substances, made into a ball and carried by a person to impart a sweet
smell or as a protection against infection.
2. (countable, historical) A small case in which an aromatic ball was
carried.
3. (countable) A perforated container filled with pot-pourri for placing
in a drawer, wardrobe, room, etc., to provide a sweet smell.
4. (countable) An apple or orange studded with cloves used for the same
purpose.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pomander>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
An unjust composition never fails to contain error and falsehood.
Therefore an unjust connection of ideas is not derived from nature, but
from the imperfect composition of man. Misconnection of ideas is the
same as misjudging, and has no positive existence, being merely a
creature of the imagination; but nature and truth are real and uniform;
and the rational mind by reasoning, discerns the uniformity, and is
thereby enabled to make a just composition of ideas, which will stand
the test of truth. But the fantastical illuminations of the credulous
and superstitious part of mankind, proceed from weakness, and as far as
they take place in the world subvert the religion of REASON, NATURE and
TRUTH.
--Ethan Allen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ethan_Allen>