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>
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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>
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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>
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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>