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HMS Erin was a dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy, originally ordered under the name Reşadiye by the Ottoman government from the British company Vickers. She was designed to be at least the equal of any ship afloat or under construction. Nearly complete when the First World War was beginning in August 1914, the ship was seized at the orders of Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, to keep her in British hands and prevent her from being used by Germany or its allies. Aside from a minor role in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and the inconclusive Action of 19 August the same year, Erin's service during the war generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. Deemed obsolete after the war, the ship was reduced to reserve and used as a training ship. Erin served as the flagship of the reserve fleet at the Nore sandbank for most of 1920. She was sold for scrap in 1922. (Full article...)

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Sadko by Ilya Repin

... that the future Tsar Alexander III bought a painting of disappointed mermaids (pictured)?
... that before the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Manhattan opened, its workers were sent to Walt Disney World for training?
... that Franz Grave, the first bishop of Essen born in Essen, focused on intercultural dialogue with Latin America?
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... that Pennsylvania state representative Marty Flynn engaged in a shootout with attempted burglars near the state capitol?
... that Gea eff has the shortest scientific name of any spider species?
... that British singer Hope Tala turned down an opportunity to pursue a master's degree at the University of Cambridge in favour of pursuing a career in music?
... that while the United States Armed Forces are forbidden from using flamethrowers by an international treaty, there are no restrictions on civilian use in 48 states and the District of Columbia?

In the news

Jane Campion

The Power of the Dog wins Best Film and Best Director (Jane Campion pictured) at the British Academy Film Awards.
The discovery of the wreck of the Endurance, sunk during Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, is announced.
Yoon Suk-yeol is elected president of South Korea.
Australian cricketer Shane Warne dies at the age of 52.
An attack at a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan, kills at least 63 people and injures more than 190 others.

On this day

March 17: Saint Patrick's Day (Christianity); Purim (Judaism, 2022); Anniversary of the unification of Italy (1861)

Richard Ramirez

1677 – Franco-Dutch War: France captured the town of Valenciennes in the Spanish Netherlands.
1891 – The transatlantic steamship Utopia accidentally collided with the battleship HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar, sinking in less than twenty minutes and killing 562.
1942 – The Holocaust: The first mass killings of Jews began at Belzec extermination camp in occupied Poland, the first of the Operation Reinhard camps to begin operation.
1955 – Ice hockey fans in Montreal rioted to protest the suspension of Montreal Canadiens star Maurice Richard for hitting an official.
1985 – American serial killer Richard Ramirez (pictured), known as "the Night Stalker", began a home invasion burglary and killing spree that resulted in 13 deaths and 11 sexual assaults over the following five months.

Rosina Heikel (b. 1842)
Toni Preckwinkle (b. 1947)
Margaret Whitlam (d. 2012)

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Today's featured picture

The brown quail (Synoicus ypsilophorus) is a species of small, ground-dwelling bird in the pheasant family, Phasianidae. Native to mainland Australia, Tasmania and Papua New Guinea, the species has been introduced to New Zealand and Fiji. It is common in much of its wide range, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of least concern. This brown quail was photographed at Sydney Olympic Park in New South Wales, Australia.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

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