Nico Ditch is a six-mile-long (9.7 km) linear earthwork between Ashton-
under-Lyne and Stretford in Greater Manchester, England. It was dug as a
defensive fortification, or possibly a boundary marker, between the 5th
and 11th centuries. The earliest documented reference to the ditch is in
a charter detailing the granting of land in Audenshaw to the monks of
the Kersal Cell. In the document, dating from 1190 to 1212, the
earthwork is referred to as "Mykelldiche", and a magnum fossatum, Latin
for "large ditch". Despite heavy weathering, it is still visible in
short sections, which can be 4–5 yards (3.7–4.6 m) wide and up to 5
feet (1.5 m) deep. A 330-yard (300 m) stretch through Denton Golf
Course and a section running through Platt Fields Park are considered
the best-preserved remains. In 1997, a segment of the ditch in Platt
Fields was protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The rest of the
ditch remains unprotected.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nico_Ditch>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1867:
The Manchester Martyrs were hanged in Manchester, England, for
killing a police officer while helping two Irish nationalists escape
from police custody.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Martyrs>
1924:
The New York Times published evidence from Edwin Hubble that
stated the Andromeda Nebula, previously believed to be part of the Milky
Way, is actually another galaxy—one of many in the universe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Hubble>
1996:
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was hijacked, then crashed into
the Indian Ocean near the Comoros after running out of fuel, killing 125
of the 175 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Airlines_Flight_961>
2012:
"Il Canto degli Italiani" officially became the national anthem
of Italy almost seventy years after it was provisionally chosen
following the birth of the Italian Republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_Canto_degli_Italiani>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
exiguity:
The quality of being meagre or scanty.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/exiguity>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
It isn't always easy to act on what's in your head instead of
what's in your heart. And it isn't always right to. The whole trick to
knowing what to do is deciding when to make yourself listen to your
head, and when it's okay to just follow your feelings.
--Steven Brust
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Steven_Brust>