The Mendip Hills are a range of limestone hills situated to the south
of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running east to west between
Weston-super-Mare and Frome, the Hills overlook the Somerset Levels to
the south and the Avon valley to the north. The hills give their name
to the local government district of Mendip, which covers most of the
area. The hills are largely carboniferous limestone, which is quarried
at several sites. The higher, western, part of the Hills, has been
designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) which gives it
the same level of protection as a national park. The AONB is
200 km2 (80 sq mi). The Mendip Hills AONB Service and Somerset County
Council's outdoor education centre is at the Charterhouse Centre near
Blagdon. Mendip is home to a wide range of outdoor sports and leisure
activities, many based on the particular geology of the area. It is
recognised as a national centre for caving and cave diving. In addition
to climbing and abseiling, the area is popular with hillwalkers and
those interested in natural history.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendip_Hills>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1562:
Troops of Francis, Duke of Guise, massacred Huguenots in Wassy, France,
starting the French Wars of Religion.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Wars_of_Religion>
1565:
The Portuguese founded Rio de Janeiro.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_de_Janeiro>
1872:
Yellowstone National Park, located primarily in the U.S. state of
Wyoming, one of the first national parks in the world, was established.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_National_Park>
1919:
Korea under Japanese rule: The Samil Movement began with numerous
peaceful protests in Korea, but was brutally suppressed by the Japanese
police and army.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1st_Movement>
1954:
The 15-megaton hydrogen bomb Castle Bravo was detonated on Bikini
Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in one of the worst cases of
radioactive contamination ever caused by nuclear testing.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Bravo>
1956:
The NATO phonetic alphabet, today the most widely used spelling
alphabet, was first implemented by the International Civil Aviation
Organization.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
breviary (n):
A book containing prayers, hymns, and so on for everyday use at the
canonical hours
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/breviary>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
From the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step.
--Napoleon I of France
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Napoleon_I_of_France>