Somerset is a county in South West England. The county town is Taunton,
which is in the south of the county. The ceremonial county of Somerset
borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the
east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is
partly bounded to the north and west by the coast of the Bristol
Channel and the estuary of the River Severn. Somerset is a rural county
of rolling hills such as the Mendip Hills, Quantock Hills and Exmoor
National Park, and large flat expanses of land including the Somerset
Levels. There is evidence of human occupation from Paleolithic times,
and subsequent settlement in the Roman and Saxon periods. Farming of
sheep and cattle, including for wool and the county's famous cheeses
(most notably Cheddar), are traditional and contemporary, as is the
more unusual cultivation of willow for basketry. Apple orchards were
once plentiful, and to this day Somerset is known for the production of
strong cider.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerset>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1260:
The Livonian Order suffered its greatest defeat in the 13th century in
the Battle of Durbe against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Durbe>
1793:
Charlotte Corday assassinated Jean-Paul Marat, a leader in both the
French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, in his bathtub.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Corday>
1863:
Three days of rioting began in New York City by opponents of new laws
passed by the United States Congress to draft men to fight in the
ongoing American Civil War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_draft_riots>
1923:
The Hollywoodland Sign was officially dedicated in the hills above
Hollywood, California. The last four letters of the sign were removed
in 1949.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Sign>
2008:
War in Afghanistan: Taliban guerrillas attacked NATO troops near the
village of Wanat in the Waygal district in Afghanistan's far eastern
province of Nuristan.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wanat>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
bicameral (adj):
(politics) Having two legislative chambers
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bicameral>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is lack of confidence, more than anything else, that kills a
civilisation. We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion,
just as effectively as by bombs.
--Kenneth Clark
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kenneth_Clark>