Psilocybe semilanceata is a fungus whose mushrooms, known as liberty
caps, are also called magic mushrooms for their psychedelic properties.
They are the most common of the psilocybin mushrooms, and among the most
potent. They have a distinctive conical or bell-shaped cap, up to
2.5 cm (1.0 in) wide, with a small nipple-like protrusion on the top.
Yellow to brown in color and fading to a lighter color as they mature,
they feed off decaying grass roots in fields, grassy meadows, and
similar habitats, particularly in wet fields that are well-fertilized by
sheep and cattle manure. The mushroom is widely distributed in the cool
temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, particularly
in Europe, and has been reported occasionally in India, South America,
and Australasia. The earliest reliable history of P. semilanceata
intoxication dates back to 1799 in London. In the 1960s the mushroom was
the first European species confirmed to contain psilocybin; it was later
found to contain the psychoactive compounds phenylethylamine and
baeocystin as well. The possession or sale of psilocybin mushrooms is
illegal in many countries.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybe_semilanceata>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1781:
American Revolutionary War: Jack Jouett made a "midnight ride"
to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of coming British
cavalry who had been sent to capture them.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Jouett>
1839:
Qing government official Lin Zexu precipitated the First Opium
War by ordering the destruction of nearly 1.2 million kg (2.6 million
lbs) of opium in Humen, China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lin_Zexu>
1940:
Franz Rademacher, a Nazi government official, proposed that
Madagascar should be made available for the resettlement of the Jews of
Europe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascar_Plan>
1963:
Buddhist crisis: South Vietnamese Army soldiers attacked
protesting Buddhists in Huế, with liquid chemicals from tear gas
grenades, causing 67 people to be hospitalised.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu%E1%BA%BF_chemical_attacks>
1982:
An assassination attempt on Shlomo Argov, the Israeli
ambassador to the United Kingdom, failed; this was later used as
justification for the 1982 Lebanon War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shlomo_Argov>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
guardian angel:
A spirit believed to protect and to guide a particular person.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/guardian_angel>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
There's nothing much I can tell you about this war. It's like
all wars, I suppose. The undertakers are winning it. Oh, the politicians
will talk a lot about the "glory" of it, and the old men'll talk about
the "need" of it — the soldiers, they just want to go home.
--Shenandoah
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Shenandoah_(film)>