Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 April 17

Zagreb's sister ship Beograd (right) with Dubrovnik (left)

Zagreb was the second of three Beograd-class destroyers built for the Royal Yugoslav Navy. She was designed to be deployed as part of a division led by the flotilla leader Dubrovnik. The first warship built in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Zagreb entered service in August 1939, was armed with a main battery of four 120 mm (4.7 in) guns in single mounts, and had a top speed of 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph). Yugoslavia entered World War II due to the German-led Axis invasion in April 1941. During the invasion, two of her officers scuttled her at the Bay of Kotor on 17 April 1941 to prevent her capture by Italian forces and were both killed by the explosion of the scuttling charges. A French film was made in 1967 about her demise and the deaths of the two officers. In 1973, on the thirtieth anniversary of the formation of the Yugoslav Navy, both men were posthumously awarded the Order of the People's Hero by President Josip Tito. (This article is part of a featured topic: Ships of the Royal Yugoslav Navy.)

Zalgo text

• ... that the Lovecraftian Zalgo text (pictured) is a common aspect of "surreal memes"?
• ... that Carl Au received three musical theatre scholarships, which was deemed "an unprecedented event in show business"?
• ... that Hey Lady! is Jayne Eastwood's first leading role in a 50-year career?
• ... that Colin Powell was regarded as the "architect of Jersey's finance industry"?
• ... that the 1972 manga series The Poe Clan was among the first works of vampire literature to depict vampires as romantic and tragic rather than predatory?
• ... that Turkish anthropologist Ayşe Gül Altınay was sentenced to 25 months in jail due to her support for a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish–Turkish conflict?
• ... that the sea cucumber Holothuria poli may have reached the Red Sea by travelling through the Suez Canal?
• ... that NASA scientist Scott Sandford wrote that apples and oranges can be compared?

Guillermo Lasso

• Guillermo Lasso (pictured) is elected President of Ecuador.
• At the British Academy Film Awards, Nomadland wins four awards, including Best Film.
• In golf, Hideki Matsuyama wins the Masters Tournament.
• In horse racing, Minella Times wins the Grand National, with Rachael Blackmore becoming the first female jockey to win in the race's 182-year history.
• The volcano La Soufrière erupts in Saint Vincent, forcing the evacuation of around 20,000 people.

April 17: Evacuation Day in Syria (1946)

Modern reconstruction of Kaunas Castle

• 1080 – Canute IV became King of Denmark upon the death of his brother Harald III.
• 1362 – Lithuanian Crusade: After a month-long siege, forces of the Teutonic Order captured and destroyed Kaunas Castle (reconstruction pictured), which was defended by troops of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
• 1907 – Minas Geraes, the first of three Brazilian dreadnought battleships, was laid down, sparking a vastly expensive South American naval arms race with Argentina and Chile.
• 1951 – The Peak District was designated the first national park in the United Kingdom.