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The LSWR N15 class was a British 2-cylinder 4-6-0 express passenger steam locomotive designed by Robert W. Urie. The class has a complex build history spanning several years of construction from 1919 to 1926. The first examples were constructed for the London and South Western Railway, where they hauled heavy express trains to the south coast ports and further west to Exeter. Following the Grouping of railway companies in 1923, the LSWR became part of the Southern Railway and its publicity department gave the locomotives names associated with Arthurian legend. The Chief Mechanical Engineer of the newly-formed company, Richard Maunsell, increased the King Arthur class strength to 74 locomotives. Maunsell incorporated several improvements, notably to the steam circuit. The new locomotives were built in batches at Eastleigh and Glasgow. Maunsell's successor, Oliver Bulleid, further improved performance by altering exhaust arrangements. The locomotives continued operating with British Railways (BR) until the end of 1962. One example, 30777 Sir Lamiel, is preserved as part of the National Collection and can be seen on mainline railtours. (more...)

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May 21: Ascension Thursday (Western Christianity, 2009); Navy Day in Chile

• 1879 – War of the Pacific: Two Peruvian ironclads led by Miguel Grau Seminario attempted to lift the blockade of Iquique by Chilean battleships under Arturo Prat at the Battle of Iquique.
• 1894 – The Manchester Ship Canal (pictured), linking Greater Manchester in North West England to the Irish Sea, officially opened, becoming the largest navigation canal in the world at the time.
• 1904 – The Fédération Internationale de Football Association, the international sport governing body of association football, was founded in Paris.
• 1927 – Aboard the Spirit of St. Louis, American aviator Charles Lindbergh completed the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight, flying from Roosevelt Field near New York City to Le Bourget Airport near Paris.
• 1991 – Former Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.
• 1998 – Indonesian President Suharto resigned following the collapse of support for his three-decade-long reign.

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