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SMS Hindenburg was a battlecruiser of the Imperial German Navy, the third ship of the Derfflinger class. She was named in honor of Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, the victor of the Battle of Tannenberg and the Battle of the Masurian Lakes, as well as Supreme Commander of the German armies from 1916. The ship was the last capital ship of any type built for the German navy during World War I. Hindenburg took part in short fleet operations as the flagship of I Scouting Group in 1917–18, but saw no major action. The proposed final sortie of the fleet in the last weeks of the war ended when the crews of the capital ships mutinied. Hindenburg was interned with other German battlecruisers at Scapa Flow in November 1918. Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter ordered that the ships be scuttled on 21 June 1919; Hindenburg was the last of the ships to sink. She was raised in 1930 and broken up for scrap the following two years. (This article is part of a featured topic: Battlecruisers of Germany.) (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Air pollution from a brick factory

... that air pollution (example pictured) increases the risk of miscarriages, strokes and dementia?
... that a 1948 U.S. Supreme Court decision helped to protect comic books from government regulation and censorship?
... that, although Ray Prohaska's father beat him to dissuade him from becoming an artist, he had a lengthy, successful career as an illustrator?
... that Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! featured a Domino's Pizza mascot as an antagonist?
... that Hannah Sharts played soccer for the UCLA Bruins over twenty years after her mother fought to create the team?
... that a narcotics addict appealed his drug possession charges on the argument that his addiction compelled him to take drugs, but he narrowly lost?
... that Broadway Jones refused to join the original production of the musical Show Boat due to low pay, despite the song "Ol' Man River" being created for him?
... that The Republic of Nothing inspired Rush drummer Neil Peart to write a letter to the author, leading him to write his own book?
... that Giovanni Battista Bugatti performed 516 executions for six popes?

In the news

Hannah Hampton

An 8.8-magnitude earthquake strikes off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, triggering tsunami warnings across the Pacific Ocean.
In association football, the UEFA Women's Euro concludes with England defeating Spain in the final (player of the match Hannah Hampton pictured).
In cycling, Tadej Pogačar wins the Tour de France.
American professional wrestler Hulk Hogan dies at the age of 71.

On this day

August 1: Lughnasadh in the Northern Hemisphere; Buwan ng Wika begins in the Philippines; PLA Day in China (1927)

Cars on the I-35W bridge after the collapse

527 – Upon the death of Justin I, his nephew and adopted son Justinian I became the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire.
1814 – Britain celebrated a Grand Jubilee to mark 100 years since the accession of George I and 16 years since the start of the Battle of the Nile.
1971 – The Concert for Bangladesh, a pair of benefit concerts organised by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar for refugees of the Bangladesh genocide, took place at Madison Square Garden in New York.
2004 – Nearly 400 people died in a supermarket fire in Asunción, Paraguay, when exits were locked to prevent people from stealing merchandise.
2007 – Bridge 9340, carrying Interstate 35W across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, United States, suffered a catastrophic failure and collapsed (aftermath pictured), killing 13 people and injuring 145 others.

Andrew Melville (b. 1545)
Helen Sawyer Hogg (b. 1905)
Frances Farmer (d. 1970)
Lolita Lebrón (d. 2010)

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Wole Soyinka

The works of the Nigerian author Wole Soyinka comprise twenty-five plays, ten essay collections, seven poetry collections, five memoirs, three novels, and two translated works. His first major plays were The Swamp Dwellers (1958) and The Lion and the Jewel (1959); both which were performed in Ibadan, Nigeria. After Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu declared the independence of Biafra in 1966, Soyinka was arrested and accused of taking sides following his attempt to negotiate between the Nigerian government and the Biafran separatists. When the Nigerian Civil War ended, he was released in 1969 under amnesty. Madmen and Specialists (1970) was his first play after his release. His arrest and prison experiences were detailed in his first memoir, The Man Died: Prison Notes of Wole Soyinka (1972), which along with Poems from Prison was written and smuggled out during his imprisonment. (Full list...)

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A field ration is a type of prepackaged military ration designed to be easily and quickly prepared and consumed on the battlefield, in combat, at the front line, or where eating facilities are otherwise unavailable. Field rations are primarily used by military forces, though they are also sometimes distributed to civilians as part of humanitarian aid and emergency management. They consist principally of dried and nonperishable foods, including among others preserved and nonperishable precooked meat, vegetables, grains and rice, dehydrated soup, side dishes, desserts and drinks. They took their modern form from the 19th century onwards, with the invention of airtight food preservation, canned food, and pasteurization. Field rations are designed with a long shelf life and can be eaten at any temperature, but they are heated or cooked where possible. This photograph shows the arranged contents of an Einmannpackung Typ 1 field ration issued to the German Bundeswehr in 1974, on display at the Museum of Hamburg History in Hamburg, Germany. It includes, from left to right and top to bottom: an instant-rice ready meal, scrambled eggs with ham and spaghetti, hardtack, a condiment, semi-sweet chocolate, and coffee creamer; liverwurst, strawberry jam, melted cheese, four water-purification tablets, and salt; tea-extract powder, a damp towel, coffee extract, orange drink powder, a matchbook, refined sugar, and spearmint chewing gum.

Photograph credit: Medvedev

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