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Brennus was the first pre-dreadnought battleship built for the French Navy. Launched on 17 October 1891, she was an ironclad battleship with a main battery of heavy guns mounted on the centerline and the first use of Belleville boilers. She formed the basis for subsequent designs, beginning with Charles Martel. When completed in 1893, Brennus was very top-heavy and had to be rebuilt over the next three years before she was ready to enter service. She spent the majority of her service in the Mediterranean Squadron and she served as its flagship early in her career. As newer battleships were commissioned into the fleet, Brennus was relegated to the Reserve Squadron in the early 1900s and then served as a training ship. The ship was decommissioned before the First World War began in August 1914 and disarmed in 1915. She served as a source of spare parts and equipment for other ships during the war. Her hulk was stricken from the naval register in 1919 and was scrapped three years later. (Full article...)

Arthur Heurtley House

• ... that one former owner of Frank Lloyd Wright's Arthur Heurtley House (pictured) bought it after reading a book about Wright's work?
• ... that Niu Lai was created by a mother and son over the course of five years?
• ... that the Burndy Library collected the classics of science only up to 1900 because its founder believed that most of the basic theories of physical science had been formulated by then?
• ... that Buddhist monks using astrology divined the "precise" date and time of Genghis Khan's birth before a controversial celebration of its 800th anniversary?
• ... that the International Astronomical Union named a minor planet after radio astronomer Bruce Slee just before his death in 2016?
• ... that a building occupied by Google was variously used as a shipping pier, bus depot, and detention center?
• ... that a statue of Saint Christopher by Albrecht von Nürnberg was stripped of the Christ Child after the Reformation and turned into a Swiss mercenary?
• ... that Pink Floyd agreed to produce the soundtrack for a cancelled Dune film?
• ... that Lidia Doce offered to get Che Guevara a puppy?

King Khalid International Airport

• The Houthis launch a series of attacks on Saudi Arabian airports, including King Khalid International Airport (satellite image shown), killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 370 others.
• South African jurist Navi Pillay is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
• Canadian poet Anne Carson is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
• American software engineer Margaret Hamilton dies at the age of 90.

October 17

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

• 1660 – A series of executions of the commissioners who signed the death warrant of King Charles I of England concluded; six were hanged, drawn and quartered for treason.
• 1771 – Ascanio in Alba, an opera composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (pictured) at the age of 15, premiered in Milan.
• 1860 – The Open Championship, the oldest of the four major championships in men's golf, was first played at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland.
• 1992 – Having gone to the wrong house in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for a Halloween party, Japanese exchange student Yoshihiro Hattori was shot and killed by the homeowner.
• 2001 – Rehavam Ze'evi, the Israeli minister of tourism, was assassinated in revenge for the killing of PFLP leader Abu Ali Mustafa.