A large beer or wine cask, also formerly used to describe the capacity of ships.
Tun
Fact of the Day
The Latin word for an hour is hora. An hour made smaller is an hora minuta, from minuere (to lessen). An hour made smaller for a second time is an hora minuta secunda. From this, English has hours, minutes and seconds.
Quote of the Day
"Foul as it is, hell itself is made more foul by the presence of John.
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~ Matthew Paris (13th century chronicler) on King John
On This Day
1483 The proposed date of the coronation of the 12-year-old son of Edward IV, Edward V. The coronation never happened because his uncle, Richard, declared him illegitimate and became king himself.
1611 Navigator Henry Hudson was cast adrift after a mutiny in Hudson Bay. It was the last time he was seen alive.
1861 A huge blaze started on Tooley Street's Cotton Wharf, which was later compared to the Great Fire of London, caused £2 million worth of damage, and killed James Braidwood, superintendent of the London Fire Engine Establishment.
1941 The Nazis launched Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union, with the largest invasion force in the history of warfare.
