Sōryū was an aircraft carrier built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during the mid-1930s. The ship's aircraft were employed during the Second Sino-Japanese War in the late 1930s and supported the Japanese invasion of French Indochina in mid-1940. During the first months of the Pacific War, she took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Wake Island, the conquest of the Dutch East Indies, and the bombing of Darwin, Australia. In the Battle of Midway in June 1942, Sōryū and three other carriers of the First Air Fleet bombarded American forces on Midway Atoll, and were attacked by aircraft from the island and the carriers Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown. Dive bombers from Yorktown crippled Sōryū and set her afire. Japanese destroyers rescued the survivors, but she could not be salvaged and was ordered to be scuttled to allow her attendant destroyers to be released for further operations. She sank along with the bodies of 711 out of 1,103 officers and enlisted men. The loss of Sōryū and three other carriers at Midway was a crucial strategic defeat for Japan, leading to the Allies' ultimate victory in the Pacific.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_S%C5%8Dry%C5%AB
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1913:
Emily Davison, an activist for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, was fatally injured when she was trampled by King George V's horse at the Epsom Derby. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Davison
1920:
The Kingdom of Hungary lost 72% of its territory and 64% of its population with the signing of the Treaty of Trianon in Paris. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Trianon
1961:
U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev unsuccessfully met in Vienna to discuss numerous issues in the relationship between their countries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_summit
1975:
Governor Jerry Brown signed the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, the first law in the United States guaranteeing collective bargaining rights to farmworkers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Agricultural_Labor_Relations_Act
1989:
Following the death of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Assembly of Experts elected Ali Khamenei to be the Supreme Leader of Iran. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Khamenei
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
sexton: A church official who looks after a church and its graveyard and may act as a gravedigger and bell-ringer. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sexton
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be. --Robert Fulghum https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Fulghum