Zion National Park is located near Springdale, Utah in the
southwestern United States. It has an area of 229 mile² (593 km²) and
ranges in elevation from a low point of 3,666 ft (1,128 m) on Coalpits
Wash to a high point at 8,726 ft (2,660 m) at Horse Ranch Mountain.
Established in 1909 as 'Mukuntuweap National Monument, it became Zion
National Park in 1919. The Kolob section was proclaimed a separate
Zion National Monument in 1937, but was incorporated into the park in
1956. Zion is an ancient Hebrew word meaning "place of refuge" or
"sanctuary," often used by the LDS settlers in Utah. Protected within
the park is a dramatic landscape of sculptured canyons and soaring
cliffs, mostly from the 170 million year old tan to orange-red
sandstone of the Navajo Formation. Zion is located at the junction of
the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert provinces. This
unique geography and the variety of life zones within the park make
Zion significant as a place of unusual plant and animal diversity.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zion_National_Park
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1836:
The Republic of Texas declared its independence from Mexico.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Texas)
1861:
The Emancipation Manifesto of Tsar Alexander II was proclaimed,
abolishing serfdom in Imperial Russia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_reform_of_1861_in_Russia)
1943:
World War II: Australian and American air forces attacked and
destroyed a large convoy of the Japanese Navy in the Battle of the
Bismarck Sea.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bismarck_Sea)
1962:
Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a basketball game, still a
record in the NBA today.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilt_Chamberlain)
1998:
NASA announced the discovery of water, likely a salty ocean, on
Europa, one of the moons of the planet Jupiter.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_%28moon%29)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"Our dignity, our free institutions and the peace and welfare of this
and coming generations of Americans will be secure only as we cling to
the watchword of true patriotism: 'Our country - when right to be kept
right; when wrong to be put right.'" -- Carl Schurz
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Schurz)
Paul Kane was an Irish-Canadian painter, famous for his paintings of
First Nations peoples in the Canadian West and other Native Americans
in the Oregon Country. Largely self-educated, Kane grew up in Toronto
(then known as York) and trained himself by copying European masters
on a study trip through Europe. He undertook two voyages through the
wild Canadian northwest in 1845 and from 1846 to 1848. The first trip
took him from Toronto to Sault Ste. Marie and back. Having secured the
support of the Hudson's Bay Company, he set out on a second, much
longer voyage from Toronto across the Rocky Mountains to Fort
Vancouver and Fort Victoria in the Oregon Country and back again. On
both trips Kane sketched and painted Native Americans and documented
their life. Upon his return to Toronto, he produced from these
sketches more than one hundred oil paintings. Kane's work,
particularly his field sketches, are still a valuable resource for
ethnologues. The oil paintings he did in his studio are considered a
part of the Canadian heritage, although he often embellished these
considerably, departing from the accuracy of his field sketches in
favour of more dramatic scenes.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Kane
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1872:
Yellowstone National Park, the first national park in the world, was
established.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_National_Park)
1896:
Ethiopia won the decisive Battle of Adowa over Italy, ending the First
Italo-Abyssinian War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Adowa)
1919:
Korea under Japanese rule: The Samil Movement began with numerous
peaceful protests in Korea, but was brutally suppressed by the
Japanese police and army.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1st_Movement)
1947:
The International Monetary Fund began its financial operations.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Monetary_Fund)
1954:
The 15-megaton hydrogen bomb Castle Bravo was detonated on Bikini
Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in one of the worst radioactive
contamination ever caused by nuclear testing.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Bravo)
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Wikiquote of the day:
I dreamt the past was never past redeeming:
But whether this was false or honest dreaming
I beg death's pardon now. And mourn the dead. --
Richard Wilbur --
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Wilbur)