The Haflinger is a horse breed developed in Austria and northern Italy
during the late 19th century. Relatively small and chestnut in color,
they were developed for use in mountainous terrain and are known for
their hardiness. The breed traces its ancestry to the Middle Ages, and
their current conformation and appearance come from infusions of
bloodlines from Arabian and various European breeds into the original
native Tyrolean ponies. All Haflingers can trace their lineage to a
foundation sire born in 1874. The two World Wars and the Great
Depression had a detrimental effect on the breed. In the postwar era the
Haflinger was indiscriminately crossed with other breeds, but from 1946
breeders focused on producing purebred Haflingers. Interest in the breed
increased in other countries, and numbers grew. In 2003 a Haflinger
became the first horse to be cloned, resulting in a filly named
Prometea. Haflingers have many uses, including light draft, harness
work, and various under-saddle disciplines. They are also used by the
Austrian and German armies in rough terrain. The World Haflinger
Federation, a confederation of 22 national registries, controls breed
standards.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haflinger>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1642:
A Dutch expedition led by Abel Tasman reached present-day
Tasmania, Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Tasman>
1859:
On the Origin of Species by British naturalist Charles Darwin
was first published, and sold out its initial print run on the first
day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species>
1906:
A local newspaper accused members of two teams of conspiring to
deliberately lose games, the first major scandal in American football.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_Bulldogs%E2%80%93Massillon_Tigers_betting_scandal>
1962:
The influential television programme That Was the Week That
Was, a significant element of the British satire boom, was first
broadcast.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_Was_the_Week_That_Was>
1974:
A group of paleoanthropologists discovered a 3.2-million-year-
old skeleton of an Australopithecus afarensis in the Afar Depression in
Ethiopia, nicknaming it "Lucy" (reconstruction pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_(Australopithecus)>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
scriptorium:
A room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of
manuscripts and records, especially such a room in a monastery.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scriptorium>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The safest way for a state is to lay down the rule that religion
is comprised solely in the exercise of charity and justice, and that the
rights of rulers in sacred, no less than in secular matters, should
merely have to do with actions, but that every man should think what he
likes and say what he thinks.
--Baruch Spinoza
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza>