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July 9

French naval campaign 1786

Apparently, in May 1786, a French naval squadron was sent to the Baltic. Any ideas why? Or does anyone have any more information on this? The squadron included the transports Guyane and Durance. Thanks --Ykraps (talk) 09:29, 9 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

See this article: "Commerce et connaissance du Nord : la marine française et la Baltique au XVIIIe siècle", by Pierrick Pourchasse, starting on paragraph 11 [1]. According to the article, there were five such expeditions between 1783 and 1786, whose purpose was to obtain hemp and wood from St. Petersburg, but also provide training for young officers who had scant knowledge of northern seas, and to improve existing maps. This was in a context when King Louis XVI was passionnate about marine expeditions and wanted the French Navy to rival the British Navy (see [2] Histoire de la marine française on the French wikipedia). Of course, the French Revolution put an end to these ambitions. Xuxl (talk) 11:40, 9 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed, the Russian Empire had a near monopoly on the high-quality hemp required for ships' rigging; see How Russia used to be the world’s biggest hemp exporter. Alansplodge (talk) 13:59, 9 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Outstanding work! I searched for hours and found nothing. Thanks both. --Ykraps (talk) 15:40, 10 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Stanislaw Kowalski's cause of death?

Do we know what Stanisław Kowalski's cause of death was? He died so unexpectedly. Yes, he was 111, almost 112, but still, I was wondering what caused his death. 68.4.99.100 (talk) 22:27, 9 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Even though this medical journal article about deaths of very elderly people is 40 years old, I think that it is still quite relevant. The quotes from the abstract that I consider most applicable to your question are No acceptable cause of death, other than complications of the aging syndrome, was identified in at least 30% of the cases and Aging is characterized by a universal progressive decline in physiological function to the point where life cannot be maintained in the face of otherwise trivial tissue injury. It is proposed that senescence be viewed as a disease and be accepted as a cause of death. At the end, our hearts stop beating and brain death ensues. Cullen328 (talk) 01:22, 10 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Unexpectedly? Yeah, life insurance salespeople harass you until you're 116. Clarityfiend (talk) 07:12, 10 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Still young enough to make whoopee with Stella!. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:33, 10 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]