Sevastopol was the last of three ships in the Petropavlovsk class of pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the 1890s. Named for the siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War, the ship was part of the Russian Pacific Fleet at Port Arthur, a Russian naval base acquired from China in 1898. One of the first ships to use Harvey nickel-steel armor and Popov radios, she displaced 11,854 long tons (12,044 t) at full load and was 369 feet (112.5 m) long overall, and mounted a main battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns in two twin turrets. She was launched on 1 June 1895 and completed in 1899. Sevastopol saw service in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. Slightly damaged during a surprise attack on Port Arthur in early February, she later participated in several attempts to break out from the besieged port, including the Battle of the Yellow Sea, where she was damaged by several shells but managed to make it back to port with the remnants of the Russian Fleet. Immediately after the surrender of Port Arthur, Sevastopol was scuttled to prevent her capture by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The remains of the ship still lie outside the entrance to Port Arthur.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_battleship_Sevastopol_(1895)

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1861:

The Emancipation Manifesto of Tsar Alexander II was proclaimed, abolishing serfdom in Imperial Russia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_reform_of_1861

1885:

American Telephone & Telegraph (first logo pictured), at one point the world's largest telephone company, was incorporated in New York. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT%26T_Corporation

1924:

The Free State of Fiume, a short-lived independent free state located in the modern city of Rijeka, Croatia, was annexed by the Kingdom of Italy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_State_of_Fiume

1945:

Second World War: The Royal Air Force accidentally bombed the Bezuidenhout neighbourhood in the Dutch city of The Hague, killing 511 evacuees. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_the_Bezuidenhout

2009:

The building housing the Historical Archive of the City of Cologne, one of the the largest communal archives in Europe, collapsed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Archive_of_the_City_of_Cologne

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

beey: (informal, rare) Reminiscent of or containing bees. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/beey

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

We prove what we want to prove, and the real difficulty is to know what we want to prove.   --Émile Chartier https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/%C3%89mile_Chartier