Megalodon (Carcharocles megalodon), an extinct species of shark, lived
around 23 to 2.6 million years ago, from the Early Miocene to the Late
Pliocene. Once thought to be closely related to the great white shark
(C. carcharias), it may be a member of the extinct family Otodontidae.
It may have looked like a stocky great white, measuring at most 18
meters (59 ft), and averaging 10.5 metres (34 ft). Its large jaws
exerted an estimated bite force of 108,500 to 182,200 newtons (24,400 to
41,000 lbf), coupled with thick teeth to grab large, struggling prey,
crushing the heart and lungs of the marine mammals – mainly baleen
whales – that it fed on in oceans around the world. It is thought
that its decline was due to competition from other large predators (such
as Livyatan), the ice ages, and the shift in whale populations. The
shark has made appearances in media such as the Discovery Channel's
docufiction Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalodon>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1793:
Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie inscribed his name on a
rock near Dean Channel after becoming the first recorded person to
complete a transcontinental crossing of North America north of Mexico.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Mackenzie_%28explorer%29>
1975:
Stanley Forman took the Pulitzer Prize-winning photo Fire
Escape Collapse, which spurred action to improve the safety of fire
escapes across the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Escape_Collapse>
2005:
London metropolitan police killed Jean Charles de Menezes, a
Brazilian immigrant, after misidentifying him as being involved in the
previous day's failed bombing attempts on the city.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Jean_Charles_de_Menezes>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
forex:
Short for foreign exchange.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/forex>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is so amusing the way that mortals misunderstand the shape, or
shapes, of time. … In the realms of the ultimate, each person must
figure out things for themselves. … Teachers who offer you the
ultimate answers do not possess the ultimate answers, for if they did,
they would know that the ultimate answers cannot be given, they can only
be received.
--Tom Robbins
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Robbins>