USS New Jersey (BB-62) is an Iowa-class battleship, and was the second ship
of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the U.S. state of New
Jersey. Among the four completed Iowa-class battleships New Jersey is
notable for having earned the most battle stars for her combat actions, and
for being the only battleship of the class to have served a tour of duty in
Vietnam during the Vietnam War. During World War II, New Jersey shelled
targets on Guam and Okinawa, and screened aircraft carriers conducting raids
in the Marshall Islands. During the Korean War she was involved in raids up
and down the North Korean coast, after which she was decommissioned in to
the United States Navy reserve fleets. She was briefly reactivated in 1968
and sent to Vietnam to support U.S. troops before returning to the mothball
fleet in 1969. Reactivated once more in the 1980s as part of the 600-ship
Navy program, New Jersey was modernized to carry missiles and recommissioned
for service. In 1983, she participated in U.S. operations during the
Lebanese Civil War. New Jersey was decommissioned for the last time in 1991,
having earned a Navy Unit Commendation for service in Vietnam and a total of
19 battle and campaign stars for combat operations during World War II, the
Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Lebanese Civil War, and service in the
Persian Gulf. She was donated to the Home Port Alliance in Camden, New
Jersey, and began her career as a museum ship 15 October 2001.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_New_Jersey_(BB-62)<http://en.wikipedia.…
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1582:
Spain, Portugal, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Italy became the
first countries to replace the Julian calendar with the Gregorian calendar.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar)
1917:
Dutch exotic dancer Mata Hari was executed by a firing squad for spying for
Germany.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mata_Hari)
1951:
Mexican chemist Luis E. Miramontes synthesized the first oral contraceptive.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_E._Miramontes)
1966:
The Black Panther Party, a Marxist/Maoist African-American organization that
promoted Black Power and self-defense in the United States, was founded in
Oakland, California.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Panther_Party)
2003:
Chinese space program: Shenzhou 5, China's first manned space mission was
launched, carrying astronaut Yang Liwei.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_5)
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Wiktionary's Word of the day:
highfalutin: (adj) (US, informal) Self-important, pompous; arrogant or
egotistical; tending to show off or hold oneself in unduly high regard.
(
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/highfalutin)
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Wikiquote of the day:
A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower)