The Pennsylvania class consisted of two super-dreadnought battleships,
Pennsylvania and Arizona, named after American states. They were the
newest American capital ships when the United States entered the First
World War, but saw limited use at the time. During the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, both ships were present. Arizona
suffered a massive magazine explosion and sank with the loss of 1,177
officers and crewmen; the remains now lie beneath a memorial site that
attracts more than two million visitors annually. Pennsylvania, in dry
dock at the time, received only minor damage; it spent most of the war
as a shore bombardment ship before participating in the October 1944
Battle of Surigao Strait, the last battle ever between battleships.
Pennsylvania was severely damaged by a torpedo on 12 August 1945, the
day before the cessation of hostilities. With minimal repairs, it was
used in Operation Crossroads, part of the Bikini atomic experiments,
before being expended as a target ship in 1948.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania-class_battleship>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1815:
Michel Ney, Marshal of France, was executed by a firing squad
near Paris' Jardin du Luxembourg for supporting Napoleon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Ney>
1869:
American outlaw Jesse James committed his first confirmed bank
robbery in Gallatin, Missouri.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_James>
1936:
Australian cricketer Jack Fingleton became the first player to
score centuries in four consecutive Test innings.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Fingleton>
1946:
The deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history happened at the
Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winecoff_Hotel_fire>
1988:
A 6.9 Mw earthquake struck the Spitak region of Armenia,
killing at least 25,000 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Armenian_earthquake>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
vehement:
Showing strong feelings; passionate; forceful or intense.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vehement>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Hello my Country I once came to tell everyone your story Your
passion was my poetry And your past my most potent glory Your promise
was my prayer Your hypocrisy my nightmare And your problems fill my
present Are we both going somewhere?
--Harry Chapin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_Chapin>