The Battle of Grand Port was a naval battle between frigates from the French Navy and the British Royal Navy, fought in August 1810 to control the harbour of Grand Port on Isle de France (now Mauritius) during the Napoleonic Wars. The British squadron of four frigates sought to blockade the port, but four of the five French ships managed to break past the blockade. They took shelter in a protected anchorage that was only accessible through a series of complicated reefs and sandbanks, requiring an experienced harbour pilot. When the British commander, Samuel Pym, ordered his frigates to attack, they became trapped in the narrow channels of the bay: two were irretrievably grounded, a third was outnumbered and defeated, and a fourth, unable to close within effective gun range, was later seized as it left the harbour. Although the French ships were also badly damaged, the defeat was the worst the Royal Navy suffered during the entire war, and it left the Indian Ocean and its vital trade convoys exposed to attack from Commodore Jacques Hamelin's frigates. In December a strong British battle squadron under Admiral Albemarle Bertie rapidly invaded and subdued Isle de France. (Full article...)
... that before pingo scars were discovered near Halfway Run(pictured), the only known pingo scars in the United States were located on a plain in Illinois?
... that Greek singer Litsa Diamanti has been described as the "child-wonder of the sixties decade and the absolute diva of metapolitefsi"?
... that Takeshi Murata's digitally animated kinetic sculpture Melter 3-D uses the principles of a 3D-zoetrope to create the appearance that its surface is fluid and rippling?
... that the type specimen of Albicoccus, a scale insect, is entombed with two types of flies in amber?
... that Carl Nielsen's late piano pieces Tre Klaverstykker have been ascribed a "dual sense of childlike innocence and devilish improvisation"?
1989 – The final stage of the O-Bahn Busway in Adelaide, South Australia, was completed, becoming the world's longest and fastest guided busway with buses travelling a total of 12 km (7.5 mi) at maximum speeds up to 100 km/h (62 mph) (example pictured).
The Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) is a species of seabird in the aukfamily. The only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean, it breeds in Iceland, Norway, Greenland, Newfoundland and many North Atlantic islands. The species spends the autumn and winter in the open ocean, returning to coastal areas in late spring and nesting in clifftop colonies. The Atlantic puffin has a large population and a wide range, and is thus not considered endangered.
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