Operation Grapple was a series of British nuclear weapons tests carried
out in 1957 and 1958 at Malden Island and Christmas Island in what is
now Kiribati. Britain had successfully tested an atomic bomb in
October 1952, and in July 1954, decided to develop a hydrogen bomb. In
the first test, Grapple 1 (pictured), the bomb's yield was below its
designed capability. The second, Grapple 2, was the largest ever
achieved by a single-stage device. The third, Grapple 3, also had a low
yield. A further test, Grapple X, exceeded expectations. Grapple Y, in
April 1958, yielded about three megatonnes and remains the most
powerful British nuclear weapon ever tested. Much of its yield came from
its thermonuclear reaction, making it a true hydrogen bomb, and the
United Kingdom became the third nation to possess one. A final series of
four tests, Grapple Z, tested techniques for making bombs immune to
predetonation by nearby nuclear explosions. (This article is part of a
featured topic: Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom.).
Read more:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Nuclear_weapons_and_the_United_Kingdom>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1865:
Henry Wirz, the Confederate superintendent of Andersonville
Prison, was hanged after a controversial conviction, becoming the only
American Civil War soldier executed for war crimes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Wirz>
1937:
Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas executed a self-coup of his
constitutional government, establishing the dictatorial Estado Novo
regime.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1937_Brazilian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
1958:
Merchant Harry Winston donated the Hope Diamond, the "most
famous diamond in the world", to the Smithsonian Institution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Diamond>
2009:
Ships of the South Korean and North Korean navies skirmished
off Daecheong Island in the Yellow Sea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daecheong_incident>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
sumac:
1. Any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Rhus and other
genera in Anacardiaceae, particularly the elm-leaved sumac, Sicilian
sumac, or tanner's sumac (Rhus coriaria).
2. Dried and chopped-up leaves and stems of a plant of the genus Rhus,
particularly the tanner's sumac (see sense 1), used for dyeing and
tanning leather or for medicinal purposes.
3. A sour spice popular in the Eastern Mediterranean, made from the
berries of tanner's sumac.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sumac>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The little folk dare anything … And they talks a lot of
nonsense. But they talks an awful lot of sense, as well. You listen to
'em at your peril, and you ignore 'em at your peril, too.
--Stardust : Being A Romance Within The Realm of Faerie
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stardust_%28Gaiman_novel%29>
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