The Webley Revolver was, in various marks, the standard issue service pistol for the armed forces of the United Kingdom, the British Empire, and the Commonwealth from 1887 until 1963. The Webley is a top-break revolver with automatic extraction; breaking the revolver open for reloading also operates the extractor, removing the spent cartridges from the cylinder. The Webley Mk I service revolver was adopted in 1887, but it was a later version—the Mk IV—which rose to prominence during the Boer War of 1899–1902. The Mk VI, introduced in 1915 during World War I, is perhaps the best-known model. Webley service revolvers are among the most powerful top-break revolvers ever produced, firing the .455 Webley cartridge. Although the .455 calibre Webley is no longer in military service, the .38/200 Webley Mk IV variant is still sporadically in use as a police sidearm in a number of countries.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1519: Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire: Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés entered Tenochtitlan where Aztec tlatoani Moctezuma II welcomed him with great pomp as would befit a returning god. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_conquest_of_the_Aztec_Empire)

1520: Stockholm Bloodbath: Following a successful invasion of Sweden by Danish forces under Christian II of Denmark, scores of Swedish leaders were executed despite Christian's promise of general amnesty. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_Bloodbath)

1895: German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range that is known today as X-rays. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Conrad_R%C3%B6ntgen)

1923: Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and other members of the Kampfbund started the Beer Hall Putsch, a failed attempt to seize power in Germany. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Hall_Putsch)

1987: A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb exploded during a Remembrance Sunday ceremony in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, killing at least eleven people and injuring sixty-three others. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day_bombing)

_____________________ Wiktionary's Word of the day:

grandiloquent: Of a person, their language or writing: overly wordy, pompous, flowery, or elaborate. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grandiloquent)