On This Day...

[Keith]

[imgleft]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_cQOyQjTP3GY/SzdzjT8-9qI/AAAAAAAAAIw/UJBFa27Du4w/s128/wiki.gif[/imgleft]Getting a new Alienware laptop tomorrow guys so hopefully I'll be able to put up some more news in the comings days

On this day back in 1804, during the Barbary War, the American war hero Stephen Decatur led a small party to recapture the USS Philadelphia.

On the night of February 16, 1804, Lieutenant Stephen Decatur led a small contingent of the U.S.'s first Marines in the captured Tripolitan ketch rechristened USS Intrepid, to deceive the guards on board the Philadelphia and float close enough to board the captured ship. Decatur's men stormed the vessel and overpowered the Tripolitan sailors standing guard. With support from American ships, the Marines set fire to the Philadelphia, denying her use to the enemy. Subsequently, the bravery in action of Lieutenant Stephen Decatur made him one of the first American military heroes since the Revolutionary War.

 

[Thagarr]

Stephen Decatur strikes again!

Getting a new Alienware laptop tomorrow

Hmmm, doesn't sound like having your laptop pilfered was such a bad thing Keith, except for the stuff you lost of course. What model are you getting mate?

I've been drooling over a couple of laptops myself lately, I don't really need one, but it would be kind of handy to have one! I like the backlit keyboards on the new Alienware laptops, kinda eats into the battery life a bit, but really handy for computing in the dark! I was also looking at an Asus laptop that was even more powerful as my quad core desktop!

 

[rupertlittlebear]

IIRC this same event was the origin of the tearm "Leathernecks" when one officer(?) offered his neck to stop a sword from killing a superior officer - and survived.