The four battlecruisers of the Mackensen class were the last to be built
by Germany in World War I, but they were never completed, to free up
wartime resources for more U-boats. The lead ship was named for Field
Marshal August von Mackensen; the others were Graf Spee, Prinz Eitel
Friedrich, and Fürst Bismarck. In response to these ships, the British
Royal Navy began construction on the Admiral-class battlecruisers, but
only one was completed, HMS Hood, after the war. The Mackensen class
was an improvement on the preceding Derfflinger class, and was followed
by the Ersatz Yorck class. That class was slated for larger guns than
the 35 cm (14 in) main-battery guns of Mackensen, after the Battle of
Jutland in 1916 demonstrated the need for them, but little progress was
made on those ships before they too were cancelled. The four Mackensen-
class ships were broken up for scrap metal in the early 1920s.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackensen-class_battlecruiser>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1138:
Lý Anh Tông was enthroned as emperor of Đại Việt at the
age of two, starting a 37-year reign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%BD_Anh_T%C3%B4ng>
1862:
American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln removed George B. McClellan
as commander of the Union Army for the second and final time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_B._McClellan>
1943:
World War II: An unknown aircraft dropped four bombs on Vatican
City, which maintained neutrality during the war.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_the_Vatican>
1990:
Ultra-Zionist rabbi Meir Kahane was assassinated in a New York
City hotel by an Arab gunman.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meir_Kahane>
1995:
André Dallaire was thwarted in his attempt to assassinate
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien when Chrétien's wife locked the
door.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Dallaire>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
acnestis:
The part of an animal's skin that it cannot reach to scratch itself,
usually the space between the shoulder blades.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/acnestis>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I, like God, do not play with dice, and do not believe in
coincidence.
--V for Vendetta
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta_(film)>