The dreadnought was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's Dreadnought, had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar subsequent battleships were referred to as "dreadnoughts". Her design had two revolutionary features: an "all-big-gun" armament scheme and steam turbine propulsion. As dreadnoughts became a crucial symbol of national power, the arrival of these new warships renewed the naval arms race, principally between the United Kingdom and Germany but reflected worldwide, including South America (a Brazilian Minas Geraes-class battleship pictured). The concept of an all-big-gun ship had been in development for several years before Dreadnought's construction. The Imperial Japanese Navy had begun work on an all-big-gun battleship in 1904, but finished the ship as a semi-dreadnought; the United States Navy was also building all-big-gun battleships. Technical development continued rapidly through the dreadnought era and within ten years, new battleships outclassed Dreadnought herself. Most of the original dreadnoughts were scrapped after the end of World War I under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. Large dreadnought fleets only fought once, at the Battle of Jutland.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

904:

Sergius III (pictured), whose pontificate was marked with feudal violence and disorder in central Italy, came out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Sergius_III

1863:

Indian Wars in North America: The United States Army led by Patrick Edward Connor massacred Chief Bear Hunter and forces of the Shoshone at the Bear River Massacre in present day Franklin County, Idaho. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_River_Massacre

1943:

World War II: The Battle of Rennell Island, the last major naval engagement between the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Guadalcanal Campaign, began. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rennell_Island

1991:

Gulf War: The Battle of Khafji, the first major ground engagement of the war, as well as its deadliest, began. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khafji

2009:

The Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt ruled that people who did not adhere to one of the three government-recognised religions are also eligible to receive government identity documents. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_identification_card_controversy

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

obviate: (transitive) To bypass a requirement or make it unnecessary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/obviate

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Angels never attack, as infernal spirits do. Angels only ward off and defend. --Emanuel Swedenborg https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emanuel_Swedenborg