Petrified Forest National Park is a United States national park in
Navajo and Apache counties in northeastern Arizona. The park's
headquarters are about 26 miles (42 km) east of Holbrook along
Interstate 40 (I-40), which parallels a railroad line, the Puerco River,
and historic U.S. Route 66, all crossing the park roughly east–west.
Named for its large deposits of petrified wood, the park covers about
146 square miles (380 km2), encompassing semi-desert shrub steppe as
well as highly eroded and colorful badlands. The site, the northern part
of which extends into the Painted Desert, was declared a National
Monument in 1906 and a national park in 1962. About 600,000 people visit
the park each year and take part in activities including sightseeing,
photography, hiking, and backpacking. The Petrified Forest is known for
its fossils, especially fallen trees that lived in the Late Triassic,
about 225 million years ago. The sediments containing the fossil logs
are part of the widespread and colorful Chinle Formation, from which the
Painted Desert gets its name.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrified_Forest_National_Park>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1633:
Galileo Galilei was forced to recant his heliocentric view of
the Solar System by the Roman Inquisition, after which, as legend has
it, he muttered under his breath, "And yet it moves".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_affair>
1807:
The British warship HMS Leopard pursued and attacked the
American frigate USS Chesapeake in the belief that the latter had
deserters from the Royal Navy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake%E2%80%93Leopard_Affair>
1911:
George V and Mary of Teck (both pictured) were crowned King and
Queen of the United Kingdom at Westminster Abbey in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Teck>
1937:
Camille Chautemps became Prime Minister of France for the third
time, in the second Popular Front ministry.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camille_Chautemps>
2002:
An earthquake measuring 6.5 Mw struck a region of northwestern
Iran, killing at least 261 people and injuring 1,300 others, and
eventually causing widespread public anger due to the slow official
response.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Bou%27in-Zahra_earthquake>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
avocation:
1. A hobby or recreational or leisure pursuit.
2. Pursuits; duties; affairs which occupy one's time; usual employment;
vocation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/avocation>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We see what we are told that we see. Repetition and pride are the keys
to this. To hear and to see Even an obvious lie Again And again and
again May be to say it, Almost by reflex Then to defend it Because we
have said it And at last to embrace it Because we've defended it.
--Octavia Butler
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Octavia_Butler>