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>
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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>
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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>
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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>