The Walt Disney World Railroad is a 3-foot (914 mm) narrow-gauge American heritage railroad and attraction that encircles most of the Magic Kingdom theme park of Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida. Constructed by WED Enterprises, it has three train stations along 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of track, and four historic steam locomotives, originally built by Baldwin Locomotive Works. On a typical day, two or three locomotives will complete round trips in 20 minutes on the main line. The railroad's development was led by Roger E. Broggie. The attraction's locomotives were acquired from the Ferrocarriles Unidos de Yucatán, a narrow-gauge railroad system in Mexico, and altered to resemble locomotives built in the 1880s. The passenger cars were built from scratch. The railroad opened to the public for the first time on the theme park's opening day, October 1, 1971. Since then, it has become one of the world's most popular steam-powered railroads, with about 3.7 million passengers each year.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World_Railroad
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1410:
The Yongle Emperor launched the first of his military campaigns against the Mongols, resulting in the fall of the Mongol khan Bunyashiri. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yongle_Emperor%27s_campaigns_against_the_Mongols
1807:
The Slave Trade Act became law, abolishing the slave trade in the British Empire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_Trade_Act_1807
1917:
Following the overthrow of the Russian tsar Nicholas II, Georgia's bishops unilaterally restored the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_Orthodox_Church
1948:
Meteorologists at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, United States, issued the world's first tornado forecast after noticing conditions similar to another tornado that had struck five days earlier. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Tinker_Air_Force_Base_tornadoes
1975:
King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot and killed by his nephew Faisal bin Musaid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_of_Saudi_Arabia
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
Homeric: 1. Resembling or relating to the epic poetry of Homer. 2. Of or pertaining to Greece during the Bronze Age, as described in Homer's works. 3. Fit to be immortalized in poetry by Homer; epic, heroic. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Homeric
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Every process which arises from our physical being and is related to it, is an event which lies outside of our volition. Every social process, however, arises from human intentions and human goal setting and occurs within the limits of our volition. Consequently, it is not subject to the concept of natural necessity. … We are here stating no prejudiced opinion, but merely an established fact. Every result of human purposiveness is of indisputable importance for man's social existence, but we should stop regarding social processes as deterministic manifestations of a necessary course of events. Such a view can only lead to the most erroneous conclusions and contribute to a fatal confusion in our understanding of historical events. --Rudolf Rocker https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rudolf_Rocker