The Yukon Quest is a sled dog race run every February between
Fairbanks, Alaska, and Whitehorse, Yukon. Because of the harsh winter
conditions, difficult trail, and limited support competitors are
allowed, it is considered the "most difficult sled dog race in the
world", or even the "toughest race in the world". In the competition,
first run in 1984, a dog team leader (called a musher) and a team of 6
to 14 dogs race for 10 to 20 days. The course follows the route of the
historic 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, mail delivery, and transportation
routes between Fairbanks, Dawson City, and Whitehorse. Mushers pack up
to 250 pounds (113 kg) of equipment and provisions for themselves and
their dogs to survive between checkpoints. They are permitted to leave
dogs at checkpoints and dog drops, but not to replace them. Sleds may
not be replaced (without penalty) and mushers cannot accept help from
non-racers except at Dawson City, the halfway mark. The route runs on
frozen rivers, over four mountain ranges, and through isolated northern
villages. Racers cover 1,016 miles (1,635 km) or more, temperatures
commonly drop as low as −60 °F (−51 °C), and winds can reach 50 miles
per hour (80 km/h) at higher elevations. Sonny Lindner won the
inaugural race in 1984 from a field of 26 teams. The fastest run took
place in 2009, when Sebastian Schnuelle finished after 9 days,
23 hours, and 20 minutes.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukon_Quest>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1825:
Locomotion No. 1 hauled the first train on opening day of the Stockton
and Darlington Railway, one of the first railways to use steam
locomotives and carry passengers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton_and_Darlington_Railway>
1905:
The physics journal Annalen der Physik published Albert Einstein's
fourth Annus Mirabilis paper "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon
Its Energy Content?", introducing the equation E=mc².
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass%E2%80%93energy_equivalence>
1908:
The first production of the Ford Model T automobile was built at the
Piquette Plant in Detroit.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T>
1937:
The Bali Tiger, a small subspecies of tiger found solely on the small
Indonesian island of Bali, was officially declared extinct.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bali_Tiger>
1940:
World War II: Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and the Empire of Japan
signed the Tripartite Pact in Berlin, officially forming a military
alliance known as the Axis powers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripartite_Pact>
1988:
Led by pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, the political party
National League for Democracy was founded in Burma.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
rain on someone's parade (v):
To disappoint or discourage someone
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rain_on_someone%27s_parade>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
If men, through fear, fraud, or mistake, should in terms renounce or
give up any essential natural right, the eternal law of reason and the
grand end of society would absolutely vacate such renunciation. The
right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty, it is not in the power
of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave.
--Samuel Adams
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams>