Montenegro, then the last free monarchy in the Balkans, was annexed by the Ottoman Empire in 1499 as part of the sanjak of Shkodër.
The Ottoman Empire was named after its first ruler, Osman I. His name comes from an Arabic name which means, for some reason, “baby bustard.” Why medieval Arabs wanted to name their little boys after fairly unglamorous birds I cannot explain.
That means that, albeit accidentally, both the Ottoman Empire and its successor state, Turkey, sound like ugly birds.
Nobody’s Perfect is a naval comedy film about the fictional submarine rescue vessel USS Bustard and the antics of her crew. It is based on the novel The Crows of Edwina Hill, written by author of western novels and former Navy man Allan R. Bosworth. The captain, played by James Whitmore, sternly orders the crew not to mispronounce their ship’s name. CPO Doug McClure manages to get into trouble anyway.
Data from Oct 2016:
With 323,000 active and 109,000 personnel, the U.S. Navy is the world’s largest in terms of manpower. Our navy also maintains an impressive fleet, with 288 battle force ships, 10 aircraft carriers, nine amphibious assault ships, 22 cruisers, 62 destroyers, 17 frigates, 72 submarines and 3,700 aircraft.
In the middle of the 19th century, cruiser came to be a classification for the ships intended for cruising distant waters, commerce raiding, and scouting for the battle fleet. The BAP Almirante Grau was the last big-gun cruiser in service in any navy and was decommissioned on 26 September 2017.
The ship USS Constitution, launched in 1797, is the oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy, and the world’s oldest commissioned naval vessel still afloat. HMS Victory is the oldest commissioned vessel by three decades, but she has been in dry dock since 1922.
Ships are a critical component of US Marine Corps deployment and employment strategy. USMC ship inventory demand is based on the requirement to support the assault echelons of two MEBs (Marine Expeditionary Brigades) and to provide MEUs (Marine Expeditionary Units) and SPMAGTF (Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Forces) for enduring forward presence and capable crisis response.
(
MEB = “mebb”
MEU = “myou”, rhymes with new
SPMAGTF = ess pee MAGG-taff
)
The USMC Amphibious Warfare Ship Inventory Minimum Requirement is 33 ships, comprised of 11 LHDs or LHAs, 11 LPDs, and 11 LSDs or LX(R)s.
The USMC Maritime Prepositioning Force Inventory Minimum Requirement is 14 ships, comprised of 6 T-AKs, 4 T-AKRs, 2 T-AKEs, and 2 MLPs.
► An LHD is a Landing Helicopter Dock ship, like the USS Wasp (LHD-1). LHD image.
► An LHA is a Landing Helicopter Assault ship, like the USS America (LHA-6). LHA image.
► An LPD is a Landing Platform Dock ship, like the USS New York (LPD-21). LPD image.
► An LSD is a Landing Ship Dock ship, like the USS Pearl Harbor (LSD-52). LSD image.
► An LX(R) will be a future Landing Ship Dock (Replacement) ship, which may be based on the USS San Antonio (LPD-17).
► A T-AK ship is a class of strategic sealift ship that is a container and RO-RO support ship, like the USNS Lance Cpl. Roy M. Wheat (T-AK-3016). T-AK image.
► A T-AKR ship is class of strategic sealift ship that is an LMSR ship, a Large, Medium speed RO-RO vessel cargo ship. LMSRs can carry an entire U.S. Army Task Force, including 58 tanks, 48 other tracked vehicles, plus more than 900 trucks and other wheeled vehicles, like the USS Bob Hope (T-AKR-300). T-AKR image
► A T-AKE ship is a dry cargo ship, like the USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE-1). T-AKE image.
► An MLP ship is a Mobile Landing Platform ship, like the USNS John Glenn (MLP-2). MLP image.
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The Marines’ Hymn famously begins, “From the Halls of Montezuma…” This refers to the Battle of Chapultepec in 1847, in which U.S. Marines conquered
Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City and subsequently occupied the city as part of the Mexican-American War.
The battle is also famous (according to Marine tradition) for the establishment of the “blood stripe,” a red stripe sewn into the trousers of the uniform
commemorating the Marines killed at Chapultepec.
The “blood stripe” on dress blues trousers are worn by NCOs and above. Privates, PFCs, and LCPLs don’t yet rate and they must first pick up Corporal to wear the blood stripes. (Private First Class; Lance Corporal)
Image, LCPL: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/e8/8a/9e/e88a9e5cb5d4f500993f1160789c4682--military-wedding-pictures-military-weddings.jpg
Image, CPL: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/39/100529606_7c73ca6a98.jpg
It is USMC tradition that, upon promotion, senior ranking personnel give the promoted Marine a punch in the arm. But when the Marine picks up Corporal, along with that punch in the arm comes a knee to the thigh – that blood stripe.
USMC tradition.
Added: I wonder, in today’s PC world, if that still happens.
It better!
United Shoe Machinery Corporation (USMC) was a U.S.-based manufacturer of various industrial machinery, particularly for the shoe manufacturing industry who at one time monopolized the American shoe machinery business. However, during the World Wars and into the Cold War it became better known for manufacturing weapons including tank turrets and anti-tank guns.
Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children, USMC, is what we would sometimes call ourselves in the Marines.
U Signed the Motherfucking Contract, USMC, is what we sometimes said about ourselves in the Marines.
MARINE can be an acronym: Muscles Are Required, but Intelligence is Not Expected. 
The joke in the Peabody, MA area was that USMC stood for Useless Sons Made Comfortable.
In play: Another joke is that the sound of shit hitting the fan is “Ma-a-a-r-i-i-n-e”
The battle referenced in the Marine hymn line “From the halls of Montezuma” is commemorated in Mexico as the day of the “Ninos Heroes”, six teenage military cadets who died in the Battle of Chapultepec. The eldest was 19, while the 2 youngest were 13 and 14. One of them is said to have wrapped himself in the Mexican flag and jumped from the roof to keep it from falling into enemy hands.
In 1947, 100 years after the battle, U.S. President Harry S. Truman placed a wreath at the monument to the young heroes and stood for a few moments of silent reverence. Asked by American reporters why he had gone to the monument, Truman said, “Brave men don’t belong to any one country. I respect bravery wherever I see it.”
The capture of Mexico City in the Mexican-American War, led by General Winfield “Old Fuss and Feathers” Scott, could be attempted only via causeways across a marsh, one of which was protected by the Chapultepec fortress. The city was formerly the Aztec capital of Xochimilco, built on an island in Lake Texcoco, which is now filled in. The softness of the soil under Mexico City makes it especially susceptible to earthquake damage.
Cuexcomate, an inactive geyser in Puebla city, Mexico, is about 75 miles SE of Mexico City. It has been mistakenly called ‘The Smallest Volcano of the World’ because of the popular belief that it was indeed a volcano. This was based only on the shape of the structure; however, it is not a volcano.
A metal spiral staircase descends into the excavated interior of the structure, where cultural events are occasionally performed.
The cinder cone volcano Paricutin, in the Mexican state of Michoacan, surged suddenly from the cornfield of local farmer Dionisio Pulido in 1943. The film Captain from Castile was shot in the area, using the erupting volcano as a backdrop and employing locals as extras. Before leaving his home for the last time, Dionisio Pulido placed a sign on the cornfield that read in Spanish: “This volcano is owned and operated by Dionisio Pulido.”
Michoacán cannabis was so named, because in the 1970s cannabis from Mexico was named with the state it came from. Michoacán cannabis was one of the popular kinds.
Mexico City, like the city of Washington across the border and 3,000-some km to the northeast, is a national capital contained in a Federal district.
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox, who resided in Mexico D.F. during his tenure, has found a new career as a YouTube comic commentator, poking fun at Donald Trump in general, and specifically confirming that Mexico is not gonna pay for that f*in wall. Just a sample.
Donald Trump is only the second person elected President of the United States to have been born in New York City. Theodore Roosevelt was the first. T.R. was the youngest man to become President; Trump is the oldest.