The 44th Chess Olympiad was an international team chess event organised
by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in Chennai, India, in 2022.
This was the first Chess Olympiad to take place in India. The main venue
was the Four Points by Sheraton convention centre at Mahabalipuram.
There were 937 participants in the open tournament and 800 in the
women's event. Teams represented 186 nations in the open section and 160
in the women's. Both sections set team participation records. Uzbekistan
won the gold medal in the open event, while Ukraine claimed gold in the
women's event. English player David Howell had the highest performance
for an individual player in the open event with a performance rating of
2898, scoring 7½ out of a possible 8 points. Polish player Oliwia
Kiołbasa had the highest individual performance in the women's event
with a performance rating of 2565, with 9½ out of a possible 11 points.
The 93rd FIDE Congress took place during the Olympiad.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/44th_Chess_Olympiad>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1932:
The Australian military began a "war against emus" (man with
dead emu pictured), flightless native birds blamed for widespread damage
to crops in Western Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War>
1943:
World War II: A U.S. Navy task force turned away an Imperial
Japanese Navy fleet at the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, thus
protecting the landings at Cape Torokina.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Empress_Augusta_Bay>
1960:
In the trial R v Penguin Books Ltd, publisher Penguin Books
was acquitted of obscenity for the publication of Lady Chatterley's
Lover by D. H. Lawrence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_v_Penguin_Books_Ltd>
2007:
In Tbilisi, Georgia, tens of thousands of people demonstrated
against the allegedly corrupt government of president Mikheil
Saakashvili.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Georgian_demonstrations>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
obituary:
1. A brief notice of a person's death, especially one published in a
newspaper or other publication; also (obsolete), the section of a
newspaper where notices of deaths are published.
2. (by extension) A brief biography of a person (especially one who is
well-known) who has recently died, usually describing their life and
achievements, particularly in the form of an article in a news
publication or an item in a news broadcast.
3. (figurative) An announcement or description of the end of something.
4. (historical) A register of deaths, especially one maintained by a
religious institution; a necrology.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/obituary>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
War is not its own end, except in some catastrophic slide into
absolute damnation. It’s peace that’s wanted. Some better peace than
the one you started with.
--Lois McMaster Bujold
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lois_McMaster_Bujold>
Asimov's Science Fiction is an American science fiction magazine edited
by Sheila Williams (pictured) since 2004. It was launched in 1976 under
the title Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, and was quickly
successful, reaching a circulation of over 100,000 within a year.
George H. Scithers, the first editor, published many new writers who
went on to be successful in the genre. Shawna McCarthy became the
editor in 1983, and expanded the range of stories Asimov's was willing
to publish. Stories involving sex or violence scandalized some readers,
but Isaac Asimov, the editorial director, defended McCarthy's choices in
an editorial. McCarthy transformed the magazine into a leading market
for science fiction writers, and more award-winning stories appeared,
including fiction by Robert Silverberg and John Varley. Gardner Dozois
took over as editor in 1985 and multiple award-winning stories appeared
during his tenure. Asimov's was acquired by Dell Magazines in 1992, and
by Penny Press in 1996.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asimov%27s_Science_Fiction>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1941:
American photographer Ansel Adams shot Moonrise, Hernandez, New
Mexico, one of his most famous photographs.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonrise,_Hernandez,_New_Mexico>
1944:
World War II: An American F-13 Superfortress made the first
flight by an Allied aircraft over Tokyo since the Doolittle Raid in
April 1942.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_November_1944_reconnaissance_sortie_over_Ja…>
1963:
Lê Quang Tung, loyalist head of the South Vietnam Special
Forces, was executed in a U.S.-backed coup against president Ngô Đình
Diệm following a period of religious unrest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_South_Vietnamese_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
have Jesus in one's heart:
(intransitive, Christianity, idiomatic) To be a firm believer in the
Christian faith.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/have_Jesus_in_one%27s_heart>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I'm interested in the tension between what is represented and
what isn't represented, between the articulate and the silent.
--Edward W. Said
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edward_W._Said>
Five Nights at Freddy's is a 2014 survival horror game developed by
Scott Cawthon. The player takes the role of Mike Schmidt, a night
security guard at a family pizzeria. Schmidt must complete his shifts
without being caught by the homicidal animatronic characters (Freddy
Fazbear cosplayer pictured) that wander the restaurant at night. Cawthon
conceived Five Nights at Freddy's based on criticism of Chipper & Sons
Lumber Co., his previous game. Reviewers complained of its
unintentionally frightening characters, inspiring Cawthon to create an
intentionally scarier experience. Five Nights at Freddy's was first
released for Windows on August 8, 2014. It received positive reviews,
and became the subject of Let's Play videos on YouTube, gaining a large
fan following. The game's success inspired its own media franchise, and
its popularity led to thousands of imitations and fan games. A film
adaptation by Blumhouse Productions was released in 2023.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Nights_at_Freddy%27s_%28video_game%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1941:
More than 101 crew members of the USS Reuben James perished
when their vessel became the first U.S. Navy ship sunk by hostile action
during World War II after it was torpedoed by the German submarine
U-552.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Reuben_James_%28DD-245%29>
1963:
A gas explosion at the
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_Indiana_State_Fairgrounds_Coliseum_gas_e…>
2003:
After 22 years in power, Tun Mahathir Mohamad retired as Prime
Minister of Malaysia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad>
2015:
Shortly after takeoff, Metrojet Flight 9268 exploded and then
crashed into the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrojet_Flight_9268>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mallgoth:
1. (countable) Originally (derogatory), an inauthentic or trendy goth;
now, a person who dresses in goth-inspired clothes, is interested in
industrial metal and nu metal music, etc.
2. (uncountable) The culture or fashion style adopted by such a person.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mallgoth>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In spite of all, Some shape of beauty moves away the pall From
our dark spirits.
--John Keats
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Keats>
Velociraptor is a genus of small dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the
Late Cretaceous epoch. It was about 1.5 to 2.07 m (4.9 to 6.8 ft) long
with a body mass around 14.1 to 19.7 kg (31 to 43 lb). Velociraptor
was a bipedal carnivore with feathers, a long tail, and an enlarged
sickle-shaped claw on each hindfoot; these claws are thought to have
been used to tackle and restrain prey. It is distinguished from other
dromaeosaurids by its long and low skull, with an upturned snout. One of
the dinosaur genera most familiar to the general public (due to its
prominent role in the Jurassic Park films), in actuality it was roughly
the size of a turkey, considerably smaller than its depictions in novels
and films. It is well known to paleontologists, with more than a dozen
described fossil skeletons. One dramatic specimen preserves a
Velociraptor locked in combat with a Protoceratops.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velociraptor>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1991:
The Madrid Conference, an attempt by the international
community to revive the Israeli–Palestinian peace process through
negotiations, convened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrid_Conference_of_1991>
1993:
The Troubles: Three members of the Ulster Defence Association
opened fire in a crowded pub during a Halloween party, killing eight
people and wounding nineteen others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greysteel_massacre>
2002:
Warren Zevon makes his last public appearance on the Late Show
with David Letterman, giving the advice to "enjoy every sandwich".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Zevon_on_the_Late_Show_with_David_Lett…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
embroil:
1. To bring (something) into a state of confusion or uproar; to
complicate, to confuse, to jumble.
2. To cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult
situation or state of contention.
3. A state of confusion or uproar; a commotion, a disturbance; also, a
quarrel.
4. A state of anxiety or disturbance of the mind. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/embroil>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The best way I can describe it is: after the show was over, at a
party or any — any kind social gathering, if one of us bumped into
each other, that was it, that was the end of the night. We just sat with
the person all night long — and that was it. You apologized to the
people that you were with, but they had to understand you had met
somebody special to you, and you were going to talk to that person for
the rest of the night. And that's the way it worked. It's certainly the
way it worked with all of us. It's just the way it is.
--Matthew Perry
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Matthew_Perry>
The Solar System is the gravitationally bound system of the Sun and the
objects that orbit it. There are eight planets, numerous dwarf planets,
the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, the Kuiper belt, and the
scattered disc beyond Neptune's orbit. The Solar System was formed
4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of an
interstellar molecular cloud, which formed the Sun and a protoplanetary
disk that coalesced into other objects. Many celestial bodies have
natural satellites orbiting them, and all giant planets and a few
smaller bodies are encircled by planetary rings. Many small-body
populations, including comets, centaurs, and interplanetary dust clouds,
freely travel between the Solar System's regions. The solar wind, a
stream of charged particles flowing outwards from the Sun, creates a
heliosphere region. The Oort cloud may extend roughly a thousand times
farther than the heliosphere. (This article is part of a featured
topic: Solar System.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Solar_System>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1960:
A C-46 airliner carrying the Cal Poly Mustangs football team
crashed during takeoff from Toledo Express Airport in Ohio, U.S.,
resulting in 22 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Polytechnic_State_University_footb…>
1986:
British prime minister Margaret Thatcher officially opened the
M25, one of Britain's busiest motorways.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M25_motorway>
1991:
Galileo became the first spacecraft to visit an asteroid when
it made a flyby of 951 Gaspra.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/951_Gaspra>
2013:
The first phase of the Marmaray project opened with an undersea
rail tunnel (train pictured) across the Bosphorus strait.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmaray>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
asterisk:
1. (dated) A small star; also (by extension), something resembling or
shaped like a star.
2. The star-shaped symbol *, which is used in printing and writing for
various purposes, including to refer a reader to a note at the bottom of
a page or in a margin, and to indicate the omission of letters or words;
a star.
3. Something resembling or shaped like an asterisk symbol.
4. (figuratively) Something which is of little importance or which is
marginal; a footnote.
5. (US, sports, figuratively) A blemish in an otherwise outstanding
achievement.
6. (Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism) An instrument with radiating
arms resembling a star which is placed over the diskos (or paten) used
during the Eucharist to prevent the veil covering the chalice and diskos
from touching the host on the diskos.
7. (transitive) To mark or replace (text, etc.) with an asterisk symbol
(*; noun sense 1.1); to star.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/asterisk>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The ground for taking ignorance to be restrictive of freedom is
that it causes people to make choices which they would not have made if
they had seen what the realization of their choices involved.
--Alfred Jules Ayer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alfred_Jules_Ayer>
The smooth toadfish (Tetractenos glaber) is a species in the pufferfish
family Tetraodontidae. It is native to shallow coastal and estuarine
waters of southeastern Australia, where it is widespread and abundant.
French naturalist Christophe-Paulin de La Poix de Fréminville described
the species in 1813, though early records confused it with what is now
the only other member of its genus, the common toadfish (T. hamiltoni).
Up to .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac
.num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-
align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-
output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);clip-path:polygon(0px
0px,0px 0px,0px 0px);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;po
sition:absolute;width:1px}16 cm (6+1⁄4 in) long with distinctive
leopard-like dark markings on its upperparts, the smooth toadfish has a
flattened belly and an elongate body tapering to a slender tail. Its
back and fins are rounded. Unlike most of its relatives, it does not
have prominent spines on its body. Like other pufferfish, it can inflate
itself with water or air. It forages for its preferred foods—molluscs
and crustaceans—in sandy or muddy sediment. The smooth toadfish's
flesh contains the poison tetrodotoxin, and eating it can be fatal.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smooth_toadfish>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1776:
American Revolutionary War: As George Washington's Continental
Army retreated northward from New York City, the British Army captured
the village of White Plains.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_White_Plains>
1928:
Indonesian composer Wage Rudolf Supratman introduced "Indonesia
Raya", now the country's national anthem.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia_Raya>
1971:
Prospero (flight spare pictured), the first British satellite
launched on a British rocket, lifted off from Launch Area 5B in
Woomera, South Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prospero_%28spacecraft%29>
2013:
The first terrorist attack in Beijing's recent history took
place when members of the Turkistan Islamic Party drove a vehicle into a
crowd, killing five people and injuring thirty-eight others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Tiananmen_Square_attack>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Panathenaea:
(Ancient Greece, historical) A festival formerly held annually in Athens
to honour the city's patron goddess Athena, involving animal sacrifices,
a grand procession, and, every fourth year, athletic and musical
contests.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Panathenaea>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Some people are constructive … Others are destructive. It's
this diversity in humankind that results in some making positive
contributions and some negative contributions. It's necessary to have
enough who make positive contributions to overcome the problems of each
age.
--Jonas Salk
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jonas_Salk>
The Battle of Settepozzi was fought in 1263 off the Greek island of
Spetses between a Genoese–Byzantine fleet and a Venetian fleet
(Venetian galley pictured). Genoa had been engaged in the War of Saint
Sabas against Venice since 1256, and had been allied with the Byzantines
since the Treaty of Nymphaeum in 1261. In 1263, 48 Genoese ships, en
route to the Byzantine stronghold of Monemvasia, encountered 32 Venetian
ships. A Genoese chronicle states that only two of the four admirals of
the Genoese fleet and 14 of its ships took part in the attack, and were
easily routed by the Venetians, who captured four vessels, including
both flagships, and inflicted considerable casualties. The Venetian
victory, and the demonstration of Genoese reluctance to confront them,
had important political repercussions, as the Byzantines began to
distance themselves from their alliance with Genoa and restored their
relations with Venice, signing a five-year non-aggression pact in 1268.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Settepozzi>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1914:
World War I: The Royal Navy dreadnought HMS Audacious was
sunk by a mine, but its loss was kept secret for four years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Audacious_%281912%29>
1946:
Inter-religious riots in which Hindu mobs targeted Muslim
families began in the Indian state of Bihar, resulting in 2,000 to
30,000 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946_Bihar_riots>
1967:
American Catholic priest Philip Berrigan led a protest against
the Vietnam War by pouring blood over Selective Service records in
Baltimore, Maryland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Berrigan>
1993:
Widerøe Flight 744 conducted a controlled flight into terrain
on approach to Namsos Airport, Norway, killing two crew members and four
passengers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wider%C3%B8e_Flight_744>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
punch dialogue:
(South India) Chiefly in a film: a retort or a witty line, commonly
written to be spoken by the protagonist to excite fans of the actor
delivering them.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/punch_dialogue>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There are good citizens and bad citizens in every class as in
every locality, and the attitude of decent people toward great public
and social questions should be determined, not by the accidental
questions of employment or locality, but by those deep-set principles
which represent the innermost souls of men.
--Theodore Roosevelt
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt>
The 2022 Tour Championship was a professional snooker tournament that
took place from 28 March to 3 April at Venue Cymru in Llandudno,
Wales. Organised by the World Snooker Tour, it comprised the top eight
players on the money list for ranking events held in the 2021–22
snooker season. It was the fourth edition of the Tour Championship,
first held in 2019, and the fifteenth of sixteen ranking events of the
2021–22 snooker season, following the Gibraltar Open and preceding the
World Championship. Broadcast by ITV4 in the United Kingdom, the event
featured a prize fund of £370,000, of which the winner received
£150,000. Neil Robertson (pictured) retained the title he won in 2021,
coming from 4–9 behind in the final to defeat John Higgins 10–9.
This was Robertson's 23rd win in ranking tournaments. Ronnie O'Sullivan
became the first player to make five century breaks in two consecutive
matches. (This article is part of a featured topic: Tour Championship
(snooker).).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Tour_Championship_%…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1813:
War of 1812: British forces and Mohawk allies under Charles de
Salaberry repulsed an American attempt to invade Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Chateauguay>
1905:
The Saint Petersburg Soviet held its first meeting, becoming
the first elected body in Russia to represent workers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg_Soviet>
2000:
Following protests against military leader Robert Guéï,
Laurent Gbagbo became the president of Ivory Coast.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurent_Gbagbo>
2001:
President George W. Bush signed the Patriot Act into law,
significantly expanding the authority of law enforcement agencies in
fighting terrorism in the United States and elsewhere.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dirndl:
1. A traditional Alpine woman's dress having a tight bodice and full
skirt.
2. In full dirndl skirt: a full skirt with a tight waistband resembling
one which is part of a traditional Alpine woman's dress.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dirndl>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The anger, the hurt, the — the sense of outrage that the
Israeli people are feeling after the brutally inflicted devastation by
Hamas is completely understandable. Israel has the right and, I would
add, responsibility to respond to the slaughter of their people. And we
will ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself against these
terrorists. That’s a guarantee. We also have to remember that Hamas
does not represent the vast majority of the Palestinian people in the
Gaza Strip or anywhere else. Hamas is hiding behind Palestinian
civilians, and it’s despicable and, not surprisingly, cowardly as
well. This also puts an added burden on Israel while they go after
Hamas. But that does not lessen the need for — to operate and align
with the laws of war for Israeli — it has to do everything in its
power — Israel has to do everything in its power, as difficult as it
is, to protect innocent civilians.
--Joe Biden
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joe_Biden>
Howard Florey (1898–1968) was an Australian pharmacologist and
pathologist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945
with Ernst Chain and Alexander Fleming for his role in the development
of the antibiotic penicillin. While Fleming received most of the credit
for the drug's discovery, it was Florey and his team at the University
of Oxford in England who developed techniques for growing, purifying and
manufacturing it, tested it on animals and carried out the first
clinical trials. Later trials in Britain, the United States and North
Africa were highly successful. In addition to his work on penicillin,
Florey studied other antibiotics, including lysozyme and the
cephalosporins, and researched contraception. He was elected President
of the Royal Society in 1960, became the provost of The Queen's College
at Oxford in 1962, and served as the chancellor of the Australian
National University from 1965 until his death. Florey's discoveries are
estimated to have saved more than 80 million lives.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Florey>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1760:
George III became King of Great Britain and Ireland,
succeeding his grandfather George II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_III>
1920:
Irish playwright and politician Terence MacSwiney died after a
hunger strike in Brixton Prison, bringing the Irish struggle for
independence to international attention.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_MacSwiney>
1927:
The Italian cruise liner SS Principessa Mafalda sank when a
propeller shaft broke and fractured the hull, resulting in 314 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Principessa_Mafalda>
1980:
Proceedings on the Hague Abduction Convention, a multilateral
treaty providing an expeditious method to return a child taken from one
member nation to another, concluded at The Hague.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hague_Convention_on_the_Civil_Aspects_of_Inte…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sublime:
1. (chiefly poetic, archaic or obsolete) High, tall, towering; also,
positioned in a high place; high-up, lofty.
2. (figuratively)
3. Of an aspect of art or nature: causing awe or deep respect due to its
beauty or magnificence; awe-inspiring, impressive.
4. Of flight: ascending, soaring.
5. Of an idea or other thing: requiring great intellectual effort to
appreciate or understand; very elevated, refined, or subtle.
6. Of language, style, or writing: expressing opinions in a grand way.
7. Of a person or their actions or qualities: intellectually, morally,
or spiritually superior.
8. Of an office or status: very high; exalted; also, used as an
honorific (often capitalized as Sublime) to refer to someone of high
office or status, especially the Ottoman sultan; or to things associated
with such a person.
9. Of a thing: consummate, perfect; (informal, loosely) excellent,
marvellous, wonderful.
10. (chiefly poetic, archaic) Of a person: dignified, majestic, noble.
11. (chiefly poetic, archaic) Of a person: haughty, proud.
12. (informal, chiefly in the negative) Complete, downright, utter.
13. (obsolete)
14. (figuratively)
15. Elevated by joy; elated.
16. Of a substance: purified, refined; hence, of the highest quality.
17. (poetic, postpositive) Of arms: lifted up, raised.
18. (anatomy) Of a muscle (especially the flexor digitorum superficialis
muscle of the forearm which lies above the flexor digitorum profundus
muscle): positioned above another muscle; superficial.
19. (pathology) Of breathing: very laboured. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sublime>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We do not protect freedom in order to indulge error. We protect
freedom in order to discover truth.
--Henry Steele Commager
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Steele_Commager>
South Asian river dolphins are toothed whales in the genus Platanista.
They inhabit fresh water habitats in the northern Indian subcontinent.
They were historically considered to be one species, but the Ganges
river dolphin (pictured) and the Indus river dolphin were described as
separate species in 2021, having diverged around 550,000 years ago.
South Asian river dolphins are small but stocky cetaceans with long
snouts or rostra, broad flippers, and small dorsal fins. Living in murky
river waters and relying on echolocation for navigation, they have tiny,
lensless eyes. The skull has large crests over the melon, which help
direct their echolocation signals as they prey, mainly on fish and
shrimp. They are active throughout the day in small groups. Both species
are listed as endangered mammals by the IUCN Red List. Major threats
include dams, barrages, fishing nets, and both chemical and acoustic
pollution.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asian_river_dolphin>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1796:
War of the First Coalition: The Battle of Schliengen was fought
between the French and Austrian armies, who both claimed victory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Schliengen>
1945:
The Charter of the United Nations entered into force after
being ratified by the five permanent members of the Security Council and
a majority of the other signatories.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_of_the_United_Nations>
1975:
In protest against wage discrepancy and unfair employment
practices, 90 percent of Iceland's female population went on strike for
a day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Icelandic_women%27s_strike>
2003:
The inaugural Afro-Asian Games opened in Hyderabad, with 2,040
athletes from 96 nations competing.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Afro-Asian_Games>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cuttlebone:
Synonym of cuttlefish bone (“the calcareous, oval-shaped internal shell
of a cuttlefish (order Sepiida), originally used in powdered form as an
antacid and for absorbing moisture or polishing objects, and now chiefly
as a dietary supplement for cage birds”)
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cuttlebone>
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