The human history of Chincoteague, an island on the Eastern Shore of
Virginia, begins with Native Americans gathering shellfish there. By one
popular tale, chincoteague meant "Beautiful land across the water" in
their tongue. European settlers began to use the island in the 17th
century. It had few residents, and was used primarily for grazing
livestock – probably the origin of the feral Chincoteague ponies,
which used to roam in the wild. The local fishing and seafood resources
began to be systematically exploited in the early 19th century, and
oysters became a major industry after the Civil War. Chincoteague's
relative isolation ended in 1876 when the railroad arrived at Franklin
City, across Chincoteague Bay, and a steamboat service was introduced; a
causeway completed in 1922 allowed automobiles to reach the island. The
Chincoteague Fire Department was established in 1925 and took over the
traditional pony penning to raise funds. The annual carnival, pony swim
(pictured), and subsequent auction now attract tens of thousands of
visitors. The island, which was publicized by the 1947 book Misty of
Chincoteague that became a 1961 film, is a major tourist destination in
the area.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Chincoteague,_Virginia>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
634:
Arab–Byzantine wars: Byzantine forces under Theodore were
defeated by the Rashidun Caliphate near Beit Shemesh in modern Israel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ajnadayn>
1676:
Virginia colonist Nathaniel Bacon and his makeshift army issued
a Declaration of the People of Virginia, instigating a rebellion against
the rule of Governor William Berkeley.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Bacon_(colonist)>
1811:
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (pictured), an early leader of the
Mexican War of Independence, was executed by Spanish authorities.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Hidalgo_y_Costilla>
1930:
Uruguay defeated Argentina, 4–2, in front of their home crowd
at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo to win the first Football World Cup.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1930_FIFA_World_Cup>
2012:
The largest power outage in history occurred across 22 Indian
states, affecting over 620 million people, or about 9% of the world's
population.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_India_blackouts>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
chiropterologist:
Someone who studies bats (the flying mammal).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chiropterologist>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We're all alone on the stage tonight. We've been told; we're
not afraid of you. We know all our lines so well, ah-ha, We've said them
so many times: Time and time again, Line and line again.
--Kate Bush
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kate_Bush>