The Amagi class battlecruiser was a planned class of warship for the
Imperial Japanese Navy, as part of the so-called "Eight-eight fleet".
The class was to have been composed of four ships: Amagi, Akagi, Atago,
and Takao. The first three were named for mountains (Mount Amagi, Mount
Akagi and Mount Atago), while the fourth was named for the town Takao,
Formosa (present-day Kaohsiung, Taiwan). The Amagi design was
essentially an enlarged version of the Tosa-class battleship, but with
a thinner armored belt and deck and a modified secondary battery
arrangement. Limitations imposed by the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty
prevented the class from being completed as designed. However, the
treaty had a limited allowance for hulls already under construction to
be converted into aircraft carriers. Amagi and Akagi were both intended
for conversion, but an earthquake damaged the hull of Amagi so
extensively that the ship was scrapped. Akagi was refitted as an
aircraft carrier and served with distinction during World War II as
part of the Kido Butai before being sunk at the Battle of Midway.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amagi_class_battlecruiser>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1425:
Pope Martin V issued a papal bull establishing what later became the
Catholic University of Leuven , the largest, oldest and most prominent
university in Belgium.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_University_of_Leuven>
1905:
Legislation establishing state secularism in France was passed by the
Chamber of Deputies of France, triggering civil disobedience by French
Catholics.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1905_French_law_on_the_Separation_of_the_Churches_and_the_State>
1979:
A World Health Organization commission of eminent scientists certified
the global eradication of smallpox, making it the only human infectious
disease to date to have been completely eradicated from nature.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/smallpox>
1990:
Lech Wałęsa became the first President of Poland to be elected in a
direct presidential election after the collapse of communism across
Eastern Europe.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lech_Wa%C5%82%C4%99sa>
2008:
Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich was arrested for a number of
corruption crimes, including attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat
that was being vacated by then-U.S. President-elect Barack Obama.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Blagojevich_corruption_charges>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
comport (v):
1. To be in agreement (with); to be of an accord.
2. (reflexive) To behave (in a given manner)
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/comport>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
A ship in port is safe; but that is not what ships are built for. Sail
out to sea and do new things.
--Grace Hopper
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper>