There have been tanks in the Spanish Army since French FT-17s were delivered in 1919. These were used in the Rif War and participated in the first amphibious landing with tanks. In 1925, the Spanish Army began to produce its own tank, based on the FT-17, but it was never put into mass production. During the Spanish Civil War, the two opposing armies received many tanks from foreign powers. The war proved inconclusive in regards to the proof of mechanized warfare, despite attempts by foreign advisers and soldiers to use newly devised theories. Afterwards, Spain began to manufacture a light tank, known as the Verdeja, but the project was a failure. In 1953, the United States agreed to supply tanks including the M48 Patton (pictured) but after a dispute about the tanks' use Spain began to look elsewhere for further tanks, including the AMX-30E. Renewed plans for a Spanish tank (the Lince program) failed due to financial problems; instead Spain modernized the AMX-30Es and procured American M60 Patton tanks. In 1994, Spain began negotiating with Germany to purchase the Leopard 2, procuring 108 Leopard 2A4s and building 219 Leopard 2Es in Spain; these are still in use.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanks_in_the_Spanish_Army
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1869:
Prospectors in Moliagul, Victoria, Australia, discovered the largest alluvial gold nugget ever found, known as the "Welcome Stranger" (memorial pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_Stranger
1909:
Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announced the creation of Bakelite, the world's first synthetic plastic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakelite
1963:
The European Court of Justice's ruling in Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen established the principle of direct effect, one of the basic tenets of European Union law. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Gend_en_Loos_v_Nederlandse_Administratie_der_Belastingen
1985:
The mayors of Rome and Carthage signed a peace treaty to ceremonially end the Third Punic War, 2,131 years after the conflict had ended. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Punic_War
2004:
The Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front captured Gonaïves, Haiti, starting a coup d'état against the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Haitian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
comestible: Suitable to be eaten; edible. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/comestible
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
We travel together, passengers on a little spaceship, dependent on its vulnerable reserves of air and soil; all committed, for our safety, to its security and peace; preserved from annihilation only by the care, the work and the love we give our fragile craft. --Adlai Stevenson https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Adlai_Stevenson