The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. It was widely regarded as the world's best tank when the Soviet Union entered the Second World War, and although its armour and armament were surpassed by later WWII tanks, it is credited as the war's most effective, efficient and influential design. First produced at the KhPZ factory in Kharkov (Kharkiv, Ukraine), it was the mainstay of Soviet armoured forces throughout World War II, and widely exported afterwards. It was the most-produced tank of the war, and the second most-produced tank of all time, after its successor, the T-54/55 series. The T-34 was still in service with twenty-seven countries as late as 1996.
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1859: Constantin von Tischendorf found the Codex Sinaiticus, a 4th-century uncial manuscript of the New Testament, in a monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Sinaiticus)
1862: Bacardi, one of the world's largest rum producers, was founded as a small distillery in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacardi)
1899: The Philippine-American War broke out. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine-American_War)
1945: Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin met at the Yalta Conference. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yalta_Conference)
1957: USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine, logged her 60,000th nautical mile, matching the endurance of the fictional Nautilus described in Jules Verne's novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Nautilus_(SSN-571))
_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:
God needeth not the help of a material sword of steel to assist the sword of the Spirit in the affairs of conscience. -- Roger Williams (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Williams)