Stormaktstiden, The Battleship Vasa, Chocolate Salty Balls, and Some Great 404 Error Messages

http://www.south24.co.uk/pics.htm

On this day in 1628, The Swedish warship Vasa would launch on its maiden voyage. One of the largest and most heavily armed warships of its time it was the symbol of "stormaktstiden" (age of greatness) in Sweden -which had grown from a relatively poor European kingdom to one of major influence on the continent.


After being towed along the waterfront to the southern side of the harbor, three of Vasa's sails were set, and the maiden voyage had begun. As a slight gust of wind filled its sails, the vessel tilted suddenly to port. The Sails were immediately lowered and Vesa righted herself. Another another gust came, however, forced the ship to its port side but this time so far that water rushed into its open lower gun ports. With the added weight of the water the Vesa tilted over further, took on more water and sank only 400 feet from shore.


The story of the salvage of the Vesa is an interesting one worth reading if you have time.  It is now housed in a museum that has become one of Sweden's most popular tourist attractions.
http://www.vasamuseet.se/en/

The Historical Inebriant: The Shipwreck

http://www.barnonedrinks.com/drinks/s/shipwreck-1-6681.html

Ingredients:

1/2 oz. Malibu Rum
1/2 oz. Midori
1/2 oz. Grenadine
2 oz. Orange Juice
2 oz. Pineapple Juice

Shake with ice (except grenadine) and strain into a highball glass. Top off with grenadine.

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In doing some digging for photos of the Vesa I came across the following image -

Also a website that lists some very interesting takes on the 404 error messages we all love:
http://www.web3mantra.com/tag/best-404-pages/

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On this day in 2008, American singer and actor Isaac Hayes, passed away after suffering a stroke. Hayes won Academy Award for Best Original Song for the "Theme from Shaft", and co-wrote the song "Soul Man" made popular by The Blues Brothers. Although he may be best remembered as the voice of Chef on the animated series South Park.