built for the defence of the British Empire. The ship was funded by the
government of New Zealand as a gift to Britain, and she was commissioned
into the Royal Navy in 1912. She had been intended for the China
Station, but was released by the New Zealand government at the request
of the Admiralty for service in British waters. After a tour of the
British Dominions, with an emphasis on a visit to her namesake nation,
she was back in British waters at the start of World War I, and
operated as part of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet, in opposition to the
German High Seas Fleet. During the war, the battlecruiser participated
in all three of the major North Sea battles—Heligoland Bight, Dogger
Bank, and Jutland. New Zealand contributed to the destruction of two
cruisers during her wartime service, but was hit by enemy fire only once
and sustained no casualties; her status as a "lucky ship" was attributed
by the crew to a Māori piupiu (warrior's skirt) and tiki (pendant) worn
by the ship's captain during battle. After the war, New Zealand was
broken up for scrap in 1922 in compliance with Britain's tonnage limit
in the disarmament provisions of the Washington Naval Treaty.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_New_Zealand_(1911)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1816:
The University of Warsaw, currently the largest university in
Poland, was established as Congress Poland found itself a territory
without a university.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Warsaw>
1942:
World War II: Soviet troops launched Operation Uranus at the
Battle of Stalingrad, with the goal of encircling Axis forces, turning
the tide of the battle in the Soviet Union's favour.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Uranus>
1969:
Playing for Santos against Vasco da Gama in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazilian footballer Pelé scored his 1000th goal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pel%C3%A9>
1985:
Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President
Ronald Reagan held the first of five summit meetings between them in
Geneva.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Summit_(1985)>
2010:
The first of four explosions took place at the Pike River Mine
in the West Coast Region of New Zealand in the nation's worst mining
disaster in nearly a century.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pike_River_Mine_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pace:
The collective noun for donkeys.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pace>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Arrogance is a killer, and wearing ambition on one's sleeve can have the
same effect. There is a fine line between arrogance and self-confidence.
Legitimate self-confidence is a winner. The true test of self-confidence
is the courage to be open — to welcome change and new ideas regardless
of their source. Self-confident people aren't afraid to have their views
challenged. They relish the intellectual combat that enriches ideas.
--Jack Welch
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jack_Welch>
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