A midshipman is an officer cadet or a commissioned officer of the junior most rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. In the 17th century, a midshipman was a rating for an experienced seaman, and the word derives from the area aboard a ship, amidships, where he worked or was berthed. Beginning in the 18th century, a commissioned officer candidate was rated as a midshipman, and the seaman rating began to slowly die out. By the Napoleonic era (1793–1815), a midshipman (pictured) was an apprentice officer who had previously served at least three years as a volunteer, officer's servant or able seaman, and was roughly equivalent to a present day petty officer in rank and responsibilities. After serving at least three years as a midshipman, he was eligible to take the examination for lieutenant. Midshipmen in the US Navy were trained and served similarly to those in the Royal Navy, although a midshipman was a warrant officer rank until 1912. During the 19th century, changes in naval officer training in the Royal Navy and the US Navy replaced apprenticeship aboard ships with schooling in a naval college, and "midshipman" began to mean an officer cadet.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midshipman

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

618:

Li Yuan became Emperor Gaozu of Tang, initiating three centuries of the Tang Dynasty in China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_Dynasty

1053:

Humphrey of Hauteville led the armies of the Normans in the Battle of Civitate against the combined forces of Pope Leo IX and the Holy Roman Empire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Civitate

1858:

Charles Darwin received a manuscript by fellow naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace on natural selection, which prompted Darwin to publish his theory of evolution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Russel_Wallace

1983:

Aboard Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Ride

1994:

The Troubles: Members of the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force attacked a crowded bar in Loughinisland, Northern Ireland, with assault rifles, killing six. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loughinisland_massacre

2012:

Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was appointed crown prince of Saudi Arabia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salman_bin_Abdulaziz_Al_Saud

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

chiaroscuro: An artistic technique developed during the Renaissance, referring to the use of exaggerated light contrasts in order to create the illusion of volume. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chiaroscuro

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

A plot is about things that happen. A story is about people who behave. To admire a story you must be willing to listen to the people and observe them.   --Roger Ebert https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Ebert