Chesapeake was a 38-gun wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. She was one of the original six frigates authorized by the Naval Act of 1794 and designed by Joshua Humphreys as the young navy's capital ships. Launched at the Gosport Navy Yard on 2 December 1799, Chesapeake began her career during the Quasi-War with France and saw service in the First Barbary War. On 22 June 1807 she was fired upon by HMS Leopard of the Royal Navy for refusing to allow a search for deserters. Chesapeake's commanding officer, James Barron, was court- martialed, and the United States instituted the Embargo Act of 1807 against Great Britain. The Chesapeake–Leopard affair and the Embargo Act were two of the precipitating factors that led to the War of 1812. Chesapeake captured five British merchant ships early in the war before being taken by HMS Shannon. Her timbers, sold in 1819, are now part of the Chesapeake Mill in Wickham, England.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Chesapeake_%281799%29
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1852:
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte established the Second French Empire, declaring himself Emperor of the French as Napoleon III. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_III
1950:
Korean War: With the conclusion of the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River, the Chinese army expelled UN forces from North Korea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Ch%27ongch%27on_River
1989:
The Malayan Communist Party and the Malaysian government signed a peace accord to end the 21-year Communist insurgency. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_insurgency_in_Malaysia_%281968%E2%80%931989%29
2001:
Less than two months after disclosing accounting violations, Texas-based energy firm Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, evaporating nearly $11 billion in shareholder wealth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron_scandal
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
PEBCAK: (computing, humorous, also attributively) Chiefly used by technical support helpdesk staff: a problem experienced with a user's computer that is due to user error. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/PEBCAK
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun. What could possibly be the argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semi-automatic weapon? This is a matter of national security. We also need to make it harder for people to buy powerful assault weapons like the ones that were used in San Bernardino. I know there are some who reject any gun safety measures. But the fact is that our intelligence and law enforcement agencies — no matter how effective they are — cannot identify every would-be mass shooter, whether that individual is motivated by ISIL or some other hateful ideology. What we can do — and must do — is make it harder for them to kill. --Barack Obama https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama