INS Vikrant (from Sanskrit for "courageous") was a Majestic- class aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy. The ship was laid down as HMS Hercules for the British Royal Navy during World War II and launched on 22 September 1945, but construction was put on hold when the war ended. India purchased the incomplete carrier in 1957, and construction was completed in 1961. Vikrant was commissioned as the first aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy and played a key role in enforcing the naval blockade of East Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. In its later years, the ship underwent major refits to embark modern aircraft, before being decommissioned in January 1997. Vikrant was preserved as a museum ship in Cuffe Parade, Mumbai, until 2012. The ship was sold through an online auction in January 2014 and scrapped in November 2014 after final clearance from the Supreme Court. The Indian Navy is currently constructing its first home-built carrier, also named INS Vikrant, scheduled to be commissioned by the end of 2018.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INS_Vikrant_(R11)

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1586:

Eighty Years' War: Spanish forces were victorious against a combined Anglo-Dutch army in the Battle of Zutphen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Zutphen

1914:

World War I: German naval forces bombarded Papeete in French Polynesia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Papeete

1922:

After nine days, the great fire of Smyrna was extinguished, having caused tens of thousands of deaths. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_fire_of_Smyrna

1957:

François "Papa Doc" Duvalier was elected President of Haiti as a populist before consolidating power and ruling as a dictator for the rest of his life. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Duvalier

1993:

A tugboat towing a barge collided with a rail bridge in Mobile, Alabama, U.S., deforming the tracks and causing the derailment of a passenger train eight minutes later, which killed 47 people and injured an additional 103. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Big_Bayou_Canot_train_wreck

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

imbongi: (chiefly South Africa) A praise singer, a traditional bard in Zulu culture. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/imbongi

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I call the phantoms of a thousand hours Each from his voiceless grave: they have in vision'd bowers Of studious zeal or love's delight Outwatch'd with me the envious night: They know that never joy illum'd my brow Unlink'd with hope that thou wouldst free This world from its dark slavery, That thou, O awful LOVELINESS, Wouldst give whate'er these words cannot express. The day becomes more solemn and serene When noon is past; there is a harmony In autumn, and a lustre in its sky, Which through the summer is not heard or seen, As if it could not be, as if it had not been! Thus let thy power, which like the truth Of nature on my passive youth Descended, to my onward life supply Its calm, to one who worships thee, And every form containing thee, Whom, SPIRIT fair, thy spells did bind To fear himself, and love all human kind.   --Percy Bysshe Shelley https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Percy_Bysshe_Shelley