On 27 August 1979 Lord Mountbatten was assassinated off the coast of Mullaghmore, Ireland. A bomb was planted on Mountbatten's boat by Thomas McMahon during Mountbatten's annual summer trip to Classiebawn Castle. McMahon was an Irish republican and volunteered for the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), which planned the attack for several months. A bomb team built a device that contained fifty pounds (23 kg) of gelignite. The bomb killed Mountbatten along with his grandson Nicholas, Nicholas's grandmother Doreen, and crew member Paul Maxwell. Three other passengers were severely injured. McMahon was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the assassination. The event caused Margaret Thatcher, the British prime minister, to change the United Kingdom's strategy towards Northern Ireland, including implementing a more active role for intelligence agencies. (Full article...).

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1859:

Edwin Drake successfully drilled for oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania, resulting in the Pennsylvania oil rush, the first oil boom in the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_oil_rush

1896:

In the shortest recorded war in history, the Sultanate of Zanzibar surrendered to the United Kingdom after less than an hour of conflict. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Zanzibar_War

2006:

Comair Flight 5191 crashed (wreckage pictured) while inadvertently attempting to take off from the wrong runway at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49 of the 50 people on board, and causing the Federal Aviation Administration to modify air traffic control rules. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comair_Flight_5191

2013:

Religious violence between Hindus and Muslims erupted in Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, India, leaving 62 people dead. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Muzaffarnagar_riots

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

limnological: 1. (ecology) Of or relating to limnology (“the science concerning the biological, geological, and physical properties of fresh water bodies, especially lakes and ponds”). 2. About Word of the Day 3. Nominate a word 4. Leave feedback https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/limnological

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

” --Tim Curry https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tim_Curry