Cherry Springs State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Potter County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The park was created from land within the Susquehannock State Forest, and is on Pennsylvania Route 44 in West Branch Township. Cherry Springs, named for a large stand of Black Cherry trees in the park, is atop the dissected Allegheny Plateau at an elevation of 2,300 feet (701 m). It is popular with astronomers and stargazers for having some of the "darkest night skies on the east coast" of the United States, and was chosen by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and its Bureau of Parks as one of "Twenty Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks". "Cherry Springs Scenic Drive" was established in 1922, and the Civilian Conservation Corps built much of Cherry Springs State Park during the Great Depression, including a picnic pavilion listed on the National Register of Historic Places. An annual "Woodsmen's Show" has been held in the park each August since 1952. There are regular stargazing and educational programs for the public at the park, and the Woodsmen's Show attracts thousands each summer. Cherry Springs also offers rustic camping, picnic facilities, and trails for mountain biking, hiking, and snowmobiling. The surrounding state forest and park are home to a variety of flora and fauna.
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1345:
Inspecting a new prison without being escorted by his bodyguard, Byzantine megas doux Alexios Apokaukos was lynched and killed by the political prisoners there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexios_Apokaukos
1770:
The Great Barrier Reef first became known to Europeans when the HM Bark Endeavour, captained by English explorer James Cook, ran aground there, sustaining considerable damage. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef
1938:
The Battle of Wuhan began, lasting four and half months, the longest and largest battles of the entire Second Sino-Japanese War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wuhan
1956:
The six-day Gal Oya riots, the first ethnic riots that targeted the minority Sri Lankan Tamils in post-independent Sri Lanka, began, eventually resulting in the deaths of at least 150 people and 100 injuries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal_Oya_riots
1963:
Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức burned himself to death in Saigon to protest the persecution of Buddhists by South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem's administration. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%ADch_Qu%E1%BA%A3ng_%C4%90%E1%BB%A9c
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
erstwhile (adj): (now literary) Former, previous http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/erstwhile
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Talking and eloquence are not the same: to speak, and to speak well, are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks. --Ben Jonson http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Jonson