The Alaska-class cruisers were a class of six cruisers ordered prior to World War II for the U.S. Navy. They were officially classed as large cruisers (CB), but others have regarded them as battlecruisers. Their intermediate status is reflected in the naming of the ships after US territories and insular areas, rather than states (battleships) or cities (cruisers). The idea for a large cruiser class originated in the early 1930s when the Navy sought to counter German Deutschland-class "pocket battleships". Planning of what became the Alaska class began in the later 1930s after the deployment of Germany's Scharnhorst-class battleships and rumors that Japan was constructing a new battlecruiser class. To serve as "cruiser-killers" capable of seeking out and destroying such ships, the Alaska class was given large guns, limited armor protection against 12-inch shells, and machinery capable of speeds of about 31–33 knots (36–38 mph, 58–61 km/h). Of the six planned, two were completed and a third was cancelled during construction. Alaska and Guam (pictured) served for the last year of World War II as bombardment ships and fast carrier escorts, and were decommissioned in 1947.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska-class_cruiser

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1829:

William Austin Burt was awarded a patent for the typographer (replica pictured), the first practical typewriting machine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typographer_(typewriter)

1914:

Austria-Hungary presented Serbia with an ultimatum to allow them to investigate the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, that Serbia would ultimately reject, leading to World War I. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_Crisis

1927:

Wilfred Rhodes of England and Yorkshire became the only person to play in 1,000 first-class cricket matches. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfred_Rhodes

1942:

The Holocaust: The gas chambers at Treblinka extermination camp began operation, killing 6,500 Jews who had been transported from the Warsaw Ghetto the day before. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treblinka_extermination_camp

1984:

Vanessa Williams, the first African-American Miss America, resigned in scandal after Penthouse magazine published nude photos of her that were taken two years prior. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_L._Williams

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

levity: 1. Lightness of manner or speech, frivolity. 2. The state or quality of being light, buoyancy. 3. (countable) A lighthearted or frivolous act. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/levity

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

 Leadership does not mean domination. The world is always well supplied with people who wish to rule and dominate others. The true leader is a different sort; he seeks effective activity which has a truly beneficient purpose. He inspires others to follow in his wake, and holding aloft the torch of wisdom, leads the way for society to realize its genuinely great aspirations.   --Haile Selassie https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Haile_Selassie