The République class consisted of a pair of pre-dreadnought battleships—République and Patrie (pictured)—built for the French Navy in the early 1900s. They were a significant improvement over previous French battleships, with the same four 305 mm (12 in) guns and eighteen 164 mm (6.5 in) guns, but with most of the 164 mm guns mounted in gun turrets rather than in casemates. They also had more effective armored protection. Both ships entered service in January 1907, shortly after the British HMS Dreadnought made all existing battleships obsolescent. During World War I, both ships operated in the Mediterranean. Patrie supported the Gallipoli campaign from May 1915 and République joined her in January 1916. Both ships then became involved in Greece, where they assisted a coup against the neutral but pro-German government that ultimately led to Greece's entry into the war on the side of the Allies. Neither ship saw any further action. République was decommissioned in 1921, and Patrie not until 1937.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9publique-class_battleship

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1862:

American Civil War: Union forces defeated Confederate troops at the Battle of Shiloh, the bloodiest battle in U.S. history at the time, in Hardin County, Tennessee. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shiloh

1896:

An Arctic expedition led by Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen reached 86°13.6′N, almost three degrees beyond the previous Farthest North latitude. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fridtjof_Nansen

1994:

Rwandan Civil War: The Rwandan genocide began a few hours after the assassination of President Juvénal Habyarimana, with hundreds of thousands killed in the following 100 days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_genocide

2017:

A hijacked truck was deliberately driven into crowds along Drottninggatan in Stockholm, Sweden, killing five people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Stockholm_truck_attack

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

chivvy: 1. (transitive, Britain) To coerce or hurry along, as by persistent request. 2. (transitive, Britain) To subject to harassment or verbal abuse. 3. (transitive, Britain) To sneak up on or rapidly approach. 4. (transitive, Britain) To pursue as in a hunt. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chivvy

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

There will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions. There will be no peace among the religions without dialogue among the religions. There will be no dialogue among the religions without global ethical standards. There will therefore be no survival of this globe without a global ethic.   --Hans Küng https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hans_K%C3%BCng