The Banker horse is a small, hardy, and docile feral horse (Equus ferus
caballus) living on barrier islands in North Carolina's Outer Banks.
Descended from domesticated Spanish horses and possibly brought to the
Americas in the 16th century, the foundation bloodstock may have become
feral after surviving shipwrecks or being abandoned on the islands by
one of the exploratory expeditions led by Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón or
Sir Richard Grenville. Populations are found in the Rachel Carson
Estuarine Sanctuary and on Ocracoke Island, Shackleford Banks, and
Currituck Banks. Although not considered indigenous to the islands,
Bankers are allowed to remain because of their historical significance.
They survive by grazing on marsh grasses—for water as well as
food—supplemented by temporary freshwater pools. To prevent
overpopulation and inbreeding, and to protect their habitat from
overgrazing, the horses are managed by the National Park Service, the
State of North Carolina, and private organizations; populations are
limited through adoptions and birth control. Bankers taken from the wild
and trained have been used for trail riding, driving, and mounted
patrols.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banker_horse>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
763:
The Abbasid Caliphate crushed the Alid Revolt when one of the
rebellion leaders was mortally wounded in battle near Basra in what is
now Iraq.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alid_Revolt_(762%E2%80%9363)>
1840:
The French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville discovered Adélie
Land, Antarctica.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Dumont_d%27Urville>
1912:
Raymond Poincaré, who would pursue hardline anti-German
policies, began his first term as Prime Minister of France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Poincar%C3%A9>
1963:
Following a period of chaos in Congo-Léopoldville and United
Nations intervention, the secession of Katanga came to an end.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Katanga>
1976:
The Concorde supersonic transports began scheduled commercial
flights to London, Paris, Bahrain, and Rio de Janeiro.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
scanno:
A typographical error introduced by optical character recognition (OCR)
software, which may mistake a letter or set of letters for a letter or
set of letters of similar shape, as *tum for turn, or *Dosition for
Position.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scanno>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I yield to no man in sympathy for the gallant men under my
command; but I am obliged to sweat them tonight, so that I may save
their blood tomorrow.
--Stonewall Jackson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stonewall_Jackson>