The Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) was a species of mammoth that
inhabited the western hemisphere from Costa Rica to the northern United
States during the Pleistocene epoch. It evolved from the steppe mammoth,
which entered North America from Asia about 1.5 million years ago.
Reaching 4 m (13 ft) at the shoulders and 8–10 tonnes
(18,000–22,000 lb) in weight, the Columbian mammoth was one of the
largest species of mammoth. It used its tusks and trunk for manipulating
objects, fighting, and foraging. The species preferred open areas and
fed on sedge, grass, and other plants. Its range may have overlapped
with that of the woolly mammoths, which inhabited the Arctic regions of
Canada. Columbian mammoths coexisted in North America for a few thousand
years with Palaeoamericans, who hunted them for food, used their bones
to make tools, and depicted them in art. Columbian mammoth remains have
been found in association with Clovis culture artefacts. The species
disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene around 11,000 years ago, most
likely as a result of habitat loss caused by climate change, hunting by
humans, or both.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_mammoth>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
661:
With the assassination of Ali, the fourth Sunni Rashidun Caliph
and first Shia Imam, the Rashidun Caliphate, the first Arab caliphate
founded after Muhammad's death in 632, effectively ended.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali>
1863:
Indian Wars in North America: The United States Army led by
Patrick Edward Connor massacred Chief Bear Hunter and forces of the
Shoshone at the Bear River Massacre in present-day Franklin County,
Idaho.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_River_Massacre>
1944:
World War II: At least 38 people were killed and about a dozen
injured when the Polish village of Koniuchy (present-day Kaniūkai,
Lithuania) was attacked by Soviet partisan units.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koniuchy_massacre>
1991:
Gulf War: The Battle of Khafji, the first major ground
engagement of the war, as well as its deadliest, began.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khafji>
2006:
India's Irfan Pathan became the first bowler to take a Test
cricket hat-trick in the opening over of a match.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irfan_Pathan>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
predestination:
1. (theology) The doctrine that everything has been foreordained by a God,
especially that certain people have been elected for salvation, and
sometimes also that others are destined for reprobation.
2. Destiny or fate.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/predestination>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Anarchism is founded on the observation that since few men are
wise enough to rule themselves, even fewer are wise enough to rule
others.
--Edward Abbey
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edward_Abbey>