USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the U.S. Navy. Named by President George Washington, she is the world's oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat. Constitution was launched in Boston in 1797 as one of the original six large, heavily armed frigates authorized by the Naval Act of 1794. Her first duties with the newly formed navy were to provide protection for American merchant shipping during the Quasi-War with France and to help defeat the Barbary pirates in the First Barbary War. During the War of 1812 against Great Britain, Constitution captured numerous merchant ships and defeated five British warships; the battle with HMS Guerriere earned her the nickname of "Old Ironsides". The frigate continued to serve as flagship in the Mediterranean and African squadrons. During the American Civil War, she served as a training ship for the U.S. Naval Academy. She carried American artwork and industrial displays to the Paris Exposition of 1878. Constitution was retired from active service in 1881 and designated a museum ship in 1907, and continues to receive visitors year round at the former Charlestown Navy Yard. The ship sailed under her own power in 1997 on the occasion of her 200th birthday, and again on 19 August 2012 to commemorate her victory over Guerriere.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1685:
French colonists, led by Robert de La Salle, landed at Matagorda Bay in present-day Texas, which later allowed the United States to claim the region as part of the Louisiana Purchase. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_colonization_of_Texas
1816:
Italian composer Gioachino Rossini's opera buffa The Barber of Seville was hissed by the audience during its debut at the Teatro Argentina in Rome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Barber_of_Seville
1943:
A fissure opened in a cornfield in the Mexican state of Michoacán and turned into the cinder cone volcano Parícutin, growing 424 m (1,391 ft) in eight years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Par%C3%ADcutin
1965:
NASA's Ranger 8 spacecraft successfully transmitted 7,137 photographs (sample pictured) of the Moon in the final 23 minutes of its mission before crashing into Mare Tranquillitatis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranger_8
2010:
Severe flooding and mudslides on the island of Madeira, Portugal, killed 42 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Madeira_floods_and_mudslides
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
take a flyer: (idiomatic) To make a choice with an uncertain outcome; to take a chance. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/take_a_flyer
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Come As you are As you were As I want you to be As a trend As a friend As an old enemy Take your time Hurry up The choice is yours don't be late… --Kurt Cobain https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Cobain