Operation Catechism was a British air raid of World War II that resulted
in the destruction of the German battleship Tirpitz (depiction shown).
On 12 November 1944, 29 Royal Air Force heavy bombers targeted the
battleship at an anchorage near the Norwegian city of Tromsø. The ship
capsized after being struck by at least two bombs and damaged by the
explosions of others, killing between 940 and 1,204 members of the crew.
Rescuers picked up hundreds of her crew from the water, but few of those
trapped within the hull were saved. The British bombers were unmolested
by a unit of German fighter aircraft stationed near Tromsø, and only
one was significantly damaged by anti-aircraft artillery. The attack
marked the end of a long-running series of air and naval operations
against Tirpitz. The battleship's destruction was celebrated in Allied
countries, as well as by Norwegian civilians, and is commemorated by
several memorials and displays in museums.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Catechism>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1912:
The bodies of Robert Falcon Scott and his companions were
discovered, roughly eight months after their deaths during the ill-fated
British Antarctic Expedition 1910.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Falcon_Scott>
1970:
The Oregon Highway Division unsuccessfully attempted to destroy
a rotting beached sperm whale near Florence, Oregon, with dynamite.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_whale#Oregon>
1996:
A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 and a Kazakhstan Airlines
cargo plane collided in mid-air near New Delhi, killing 349 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Charkhi_Dadri_mid-air_collision>
2006:
Although the Georgian government declared it illegal, South
Ossetia held a referendum on independence, with about 99 percent of
voters in favour of preserving the region's status as a de facto
independent state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_South_Ossetian_independence_referendum>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
fichu:
(chiefly historical) A woman's lightweight triangular scarf worn over
the shoulders and tied in front, or tucked into a bodice to cover the
exposed part of the neck and chest.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fichu>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
When the true lover and devoted friend reacheth to the presence
of the Beloved, the sparkling beauty of the Loved One and the fire of
the lover’s heart will kindle a blaze and burn away all veils and
wrappings. Yea, all he hath, from heart to skin, will be set aflame, so
that nothing will remain save the Friend. He who hath attained this
station is sanctified from all that pertaineth to the world. Wherefore,
if those who have come to the sea of His presence are found to possess
none of the limited things of this perishable world, whether it be outer
wealth or personal opinions, it mattereth not. For whatever the
creatures have is limited by their own limits, and whatever the True One
hath is sanctified therefrom; this utterance must be deeply pondered
that its purport may be clear.
--Bahá'u'lláh
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27u%27ll%C3%A1h>