USS Iowa is a retired battleship, the lead ship of her class and the last lead ship of any class of United States battleships. Iowa served with the Pacific Fleet in 1944, shelling beachheads at Kwajalein and Eniwetok and screening aircraft carriers operating in the Marshall Islands. She also served as the flagship of the Third Fleet, flying Admiral William F. Halsey's flag at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay. During the Korean War, Iowa was involved in raids on the North Korean coast, after which she was decommissioned. She was reactivated in 1984 and operated in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets to counter the recently expanded Soviet Navy. In April 1989, an explosion wrecked her No. 2 gun turret, killing 47 sailors. Iowa was decommissioned for the last time in October 1990 after 19 total years of active service. In 2012 she was donated to the nonprofit Pacific Battleship Center and opened as a museum in Los Angeles. (This article is part of a featured topic: Iowa-class battleships.). Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Iowa-class_battleships> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 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> 1964: South Vietnamese junta leader Nguyễn Khánh entered into a triumvirate power-sharing arrangement with rival generals Trần Thiện Khiêm and Dương Văn Minh, who had both been involved in plots to unseat Khánh. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C6%B0%C6%A1ng_V%C4%83n_Minh> 2003: Mars made its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing within approximately 55,758,000 kilometres (34,650,000 mi). <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: as ever trod shoe-leather: (idiomatic, archaic) As ever existed or lived. <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/as_ever_trod_shoe-leather> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:   Those who have served through the ages have drawn inspiration from the book of Isaiah, when the Lord says: "Who shall I send, who shall go for us?" American military has been answering for a long time: "Here I am, Lord send me. Here I am, send me." Each one of these women and men of our armed forces are the heirs of that tradition of sacrifice of volunteering to go in harm's way — to risk everything — not for glory, not for profit but to defend what we love and the people we love. And I ask that you join me now, in a moment of silence, for all those, in uniform and out; beautiful military and civilians who have given the last full measure of devotion.   --Joe Biden <https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joe_Biden>