Biscayne National Park is a U.S. National Park in southern Florida, south of Miami, that preserves Biscayne Bay and its offshore barrier reefs (pictured). Ninety-five percent of the park is water, accessible only by boat. It covers 172,971 acres (69,999 ha) and includes Elliott Key, the first of the true Florida Keys. The park protects four ecosystems (mangrove swamp, shallow waters, coral limestone keys and the Florida Reef), providing a nursery for larval and juvenile fish, molluscs and crustaceans, and nesting grounds for endangered sea turtles. Sixteen endangered species including Schaus' swallowtail butterflies, smalltooth sawfish, manatees, and green and hawksbill sea turtles may be observed in the park. The people of the Glades culture inhabited the region about 10,000 years ago before rising sea levels filled the bay. The Tequesta people occupied the area from about 4,000 BC to the 16th century, when the Spanish took possession of Florida. Following the Cuban Revolution, Elliott Key was used as a training ground for infiltrators into Castro's Cuba by the CIA and Cuban exile groups.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscayne_National_Park
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1034:
After Malcolm II of Scotland died at Glamis, Duncan, the son of his second daughter, instead of Macbeth, the son of his eldest daughter, inherited the throne to become the King of Scots. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macbeth,_King_of_Scotland
1795:
Stanisław August Poniatowski (pictured), the last King of Poland, was forced to abdicate after the Third Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_August_Poniatowski
1863:
American Civil War: Confederate forces were defeated at the Battle of Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee, opening the door to the Union's invasion of the Deep South. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Missionary_Ridge
1952:
Agatha Christie's mystery play The Mousetrap, the play with the longest initial run in history, opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in London. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mousetrap
1960:
The Mirabal sisters, who opposed the dictatorship of military strongman Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, were beaten and strangled to death. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirabal_sisters
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
rani: 1. The wife of a rajah. 2. A Hindu princess or female ruler in India. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rani
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Believing in the one thing That has gotten us this far — That's what love is for To help us through it That's what love is for Nothing else can do it Melt our defenses Bring us back to our senses Give us strength to try once more Baby, that's what love is for. --Amy Grant https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Amy_Grant