The passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius), now extinct, was endemic to North America. Sometimes confused with the mourning dove, the male pigeons were 39 to 41 cm (15.4 to 16.1 in) in length and mainly gray on the upperparts, with iridescent bronze feathers on the neck and black spots on the wings; the females were duller and browner. They inhabited mainly deciduous forests in eastern North America, primarily around the Great Lakes. Migrating in enormous flocks, they were once the most abundant bird species in North America, with a population of perhaps 3 to 5 billion. They could reach flying speeds of 100 km/h (62 mph). The birds fed on nuts, seeds, fruits and invertebrates. They practiced communal roosting and communal breeding. In the 19th century, when widespread deforestation was destroying their habitat, they were commercialized as cheap food and hunted voraciously. Martha, thought to be the last passenger pigeon, died on September 1, 1914, at the Cincinnati Zoo. Eradication of the species has been described as one of the most senseless extinctions induced by humans.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1529:
Sancti Spiritu, the first European settlement in Argentina, was destroyed by local natives. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sancti_Spiritu_(Argentina)
1715:
Louis XIV of France, the "Sun King", died after a reign of 72 years, longer than any other French or other major European monarch at the time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIV_of_France
1831:
Pope Gregory XVI established the Order of St. Gregory the Great to recognize high support for the Holy See or for the Pope. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_St._Gregory_the_Great
1920:
The Fountain of Time opened in Chicago as a tribute to the 100 years of peace between the United States and Great Britain following the Treaty of Ghent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_of_Time
1983:
Soviet jet interceptors shot down the civilian airliner Korean Air Lines Flight 007 near Sakhalin Island in the North Pacific, killing all 246 passengers and 23 crew on board. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
dust bunny: (US, idiomatic) A small clump of dust, fluff, hair, particles of skin, etc., that tends to accumulate indoors in areas not regularly dusted, such as under heavy furniture. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dust_bunny
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
As he had grown older, he found that he had grown away from his people. Their interests and his were far removed. They had not kept pace with him, nor could they understand aught of the many strange and wonderful dreams that passed through the active brain of their human king. So limited was their vocabulary that Tarzan could not even talk with them of the many new truths, and the great fields of thought that his reading had opened up before his longing eyes, or make known ambitions which stirred his soul. Among the tribe he no longer had friends as of old. A little child may find companionship in many strange and simple creatures, but to a grown man there must be some semblance of equality in intellect as the basis for agreeable association. --Edgar Rice Burroughs https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edgar_Rice_Burroughs