The koala is an arboreal plant-eating marsupial native to Australia,
recognised worldwide as a symbol of the country. Its closest living
relatives are the wombats. It has a stout, tailless body and large head
with round, fluffy ears and a large, dark nose. The koala has a body
length of 60 to 85 cm (24 to 33 in) and weighs 4 to 15 kg (9 to
33 lb). Fur colour ranges from silver grey to chocolate brown. Koalas
typically inhabit open Eucalyptus woodlands, and the leaves of these
trees make up most of their diet. Because this eucalypt diet has low
nutritional and caloric content, koalas are largely sedentary and sleep
for up to 20 hours a day. They are asocial animals, and bonding only
exists between mothers and dependent offspring. They have few natural
predators or parasites but are threatened by various pathogens, as well
as by bushfires and droughts. The biggest threat to their existence is
habitat destruction due to agriculture and urbanisation.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koala>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1808:
As a result of the lobbying efforts by the abolitionist
movement (emblem pictured), the importation of slaves into the United
States was officially banned, although slavery itself was not yet
abolished.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_Prohibiting_Importation_of_Slaves>
1914:
The St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line in the U.S. state of
Florida became the first scheduled airline using a winged aircraft.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Petersburg%E2%80%93Tampa_Airboat_Line>
1957:
The revised Thai criminal code came into force, strengthening
the law on lèse-majesté in Thailand to include insult and treating it
as a crime against national security.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A8se-majest%C3%A9_in_Thailand>
2019:
The NASA space probe New Horizons flew by the trans-Neptunian
object Arrokoth, making it the farthest object visited by a spacecraft.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/486958_Arrokoth>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
bright and early:
(idiomatic, originally US) (Very) early in the morning.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bright_and_early>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is madness for any country to build its policy with an eye to
nuclear war.
--Leonid Brezhnev
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leonid_Brezhnev>