Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with Greyhounds and other
sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight and not by scent. It is a
competitive sport, in which dogs are tested on their ability to run,
overtake and turn a hare, rather than a form of hunting aiming at the
capture of game. It has a number of variations in its rules around the
world. Informal coursing can be a true form of hunting. It is often
conducted to kill game or vermin, mainly for food, and occasionally as
a form of gambling. Coursing is a long established and almost universal
hunting technique, practiced historically with Greyhounds, other
sighthound breeds, or with lurchers which are crossbred sighthounds,
and working breeds. The sport grew in popularity in the UK and Europe
during the 19th century, but has since experienced a decline due in
part to the introduction of Greyhound racing and betting. In recent
decades some controversy has developed around hare coursing in the UK
and USA, with some viewing it as a cruel bloodsport and others seeing
it as a traditional activity that assists in the conservation of hares
and tests the ability of sighthounds. Since 2002, hare coursing has
been banned in Great Britain but continues elsewhere in the world as a
regulated and judged, competitive sport, especially in the Republic of
Ireland and Spain, as well as in Russia and the Western United States.
Elsewhere, in Eurasia for example, coursing continues as a classic form
of hunting.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hare_coursing>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1882:
Jesse James, an outlaw in the American Old West, was shot in the back
and killed for a bounty of US$5,000.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_James>
1895:
The libel trial instigated by Irish author Oscar Wilde began,
eventually resulting in Wilde's arrest, trial and imprisonment on
charges of homosexuality.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde>
1948:
The Marshall Plan , an economic recovery program established by U.S.
Secretary of State George Marshall to assist the post-World War II
re-building of Europe, was signed into law.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Plan>
1973:
On a New York City street, Motorola researcher Martin Cooper made the
first public call on a handheld mobile phone.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Cooper_%28inventor%29>
1996:
A U.S. Air Force CT-43 crashed into a mountainside while attempting an
instrument approach to Dubrovnik Airport in Dubrovnik, Croatia, killing
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown and all the other 34 people on
board.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Croatia_USAF_CT-43_crash>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
coalesce (v):
1. (of separate parts) To join into a single mass or whole.
2. (of a whole) To form from different pieces or elements
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coalesce>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Stretch or contract me, Thy poor debtor;
This is but tuning of my breast,
To make the music better.
Whether I fly with angels, fall with dust,
Thy hands made both, and I am there;
Thy power and love, my love and
trust
Make one place ev'rywhere.
--George Herbert
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Herbert>