SMS Königsberg ("His Majesty's Ship Königsberg") was the lead ship of her class of light cruisers built by the German Imperial Navy. Named for the capital of East Prussia, she was laid down and launched in 1905 and completed the next year. The ship was armed with a main battery of ten 10.5-centimeter (4.1 in) guns and had a top speed of 24.1 knots (44.6 km/h; 27.7 mph). Königsberg served with the High Seas Fleet's reconnaissance force, and frequently escorted Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht on visits to foreign countries. A planned two-year deployment to German East Africa was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I. The cruiser attempted to raid British and French commercial traffic, but only destroyed one merchant ship during her career. In September 1914, she surprised and sank the British protected cruiser HMS Pegasus in the Battle of Zanzibar, then retreated into the Rufiji River to repair her engines. British cruisers located her and set up a blockade. On 11 July 1915, two monitors got close enough to cause severe damage, and her crew scuttled the ship.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_K%C3%B6nigsberg_(1905)
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1405:
Marking the start of Ming China's treasure voyages, Admiral Zheng He's expeditionary fleet set sail towards foreign regions on the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_voyages
1804:
U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr mortally wounded former U.S. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton during a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burr%E2%80%93Hamilton_duel
1882:
Anglo-Egyptian War: British naval forces began their bombardment of Alexandria against Urabi forces. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Alexandria
1940:
French World War I hero Philippe Pétain became Chief of State of Vichy France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_P%C3%A9tain
1995:
Bosnian Genocide: Bosnian Serb forces began the Srebrenica massacre in the region of Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, eventually killing an estimated total of 8,000 Bosniaks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srebrenica_massacre
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
gaggle: 1. A group of geese when they are on the ground or on the water. 2. Any group or gathering of related things; bunch. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gaggle
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Before you can be an internationalist you have first to be a naturalist and feel the ground under you making a whole circle. It is easier for a man to be loyal to his club than to his planet; the bylaws are shorter, and he is personally acquainted with the other members. A club, moreover, or a nation, has a most attractive offer to make: it offers the right to be exclusive. There are not many of us who are physically constituted to resist this strange delight, this nourishing privilege. It is at the bottom of all fraternities, societies, orders. It is at the bottom of most trouble. The planet holds out no such inducement, The planet is everybody's. All it offers is the grass, the sky, the water, the ineluctable dream of peace and fruition. --E. B. White https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/E._B._White