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Hiryū

Hiryū ("Flying Dragon") was an aircraft carrier built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during the 1930s. The only ship of her class, she was built to a modified Sōryū design. Her aircraft supported the Japanese invasion of French Indochina in mid-1940. During the first month of the Pacific War, she took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Wake Island. In early 1942, the ship's aircraft supported the conquest of the Dutch East Indies and bombed Darwin, Australia. After a brief refit, Hiryū and three other fleet carriers of the First Air Fleet (Kido Butai) participated in the Battle of Midway in June. After bombarding American forces on the atoll, the carriers were attacked by aircraft from Midway and from the carriers USS Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown. Dive bombers from Yorktown and Enterprise crippled Hiryū and set her afire. She was scuttled the following day after it became clear that she could not be salvaged. The loss of Hiryū and three other carriers at Midway was a crucial strategic defeat for Japan and contributed significantly to the Allies' ultimate victory in the Pacific. (Full article...)

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Typical senior housing of Roosevelt Park
Typical senior housing of Roosevelt Park

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Bataclan theatre in 2009
Bataclan theatre

On this day...

November 16: Day of Declaration of Sovereignty in Estonia (1988)

Bucharest Metro train
Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

The U.S. state of California contains 482 municipalities in its 58 counties. California, located on the West Coast of the United States, is the most populous state and the third largest by area after Alaska and Texas. The state has been inhabited by numerous Native American peoples since antiquity. The Spanish, the Russians, and other Europeans began exploring and colonizing the area in the 16th and 17th centuries; the Spanish established their first California mission at what is now San Diego in 1769. Of the 482 municipalities, one, San Francisco (Golden Gate Bridge pictured), is a consolidated city–county. California law makes no distinction between "city" and "town", and municipalities may use either term in their official names. According to the 2010 United States Census, 30,908,614 of California's 37,253,956 residents lived in urban areas, accounting for 82.97% of the population. The first municipality to incorporate was Sacramento on February 27, 1850, while the most recent was Jurupa Valley on July 1, 2011. The largest municipality by population and land area is Los Angeles with 3,792,621 residents and 468.67 square miles (1,213.8 km2). (Full list...)

Monticello

Monticello, located just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, was the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. Jefferson began construction of the plantation and its main house at age 26, and continued work for the remainder of his life, incorporating a wide variety of techniques and styles. The home and plantation were built and cultivated using slave labor. It is now owned by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which operates it as a house museum and educational institution, and has been designated a National Historic Landmark and UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Photograph: Martin Falbisoner

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