Akagi was the second aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) to enter service, and the first large or "fleet" carrier. She was converted to an aircraft carrier while still under construction to comply with the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, and figured prominently in the development of the IJN's revolutionary doctrine that grouped carriers together, concentrating their air power. The ship and her aircraft first saw combat during the Second Sino-Japanese War in the late 1930s. During the Pacific War, she took part in the Attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and the invasion of Rabaul in the Southwest Pacific in January 1942 as flagship of the First Air Fleet. Over the next several months her aircraft bombed Darwin, Australia, assisted in the conquest of the Dutch East Indies, and helped sink a British heavy cruiser and an Australian destroyer in the Indian Ocean Raid. After bombarding American forces on Midway Atoll during the Battle of Midway in June, Akagi and the other carriers were attacked by aircraft from Midway and three American carriers. Akagi was severely damaged, and she was scuttled by Japanese destroyers to prevent her from falling into enemy hands.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Akagi

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

43 BC:

Cicero, widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists, was killed after having been proscribed as an enemy of the state. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicero

1869:

American outlaw Jesse James committed his first confirmed bank robbery in Gallatin, Missouri. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_James

1936:

Australian cricketer Jack Fingleton became the first player to score centuries in four consecutive Test innings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Fingleton

1949:

Chinese Civil War: The government of the Republic of China relocated from Mainland China to Taipei (Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall pictured) on the island of Taiwan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taipei

1988:

A 6.9 Mw earthquake struck the Spitak region of Armenia, killing at least 25,000 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Spitak_earthquake

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

blunderbuss: An old style of muzzleloading firearm and early form of shotgun with a distinctive short, large caliber barrel that is flared at the muzzle, therefore able to fire scattered quantities of nails, stones, shot, etc. at short range: Timothy was excited to find a toy blunderbuss waiting under the Christmas tree. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blunderbuss

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

In a three-minute stretch between commercials, or in seven hundred words, it is impossible to present unfamiliar thoughts or surprising conclusions with the argument and evidence required to afford them credibility. Regurgitation of welcome pieties faces no such problem.   --Noam Chomsky https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky