Smythe's Megalith was a chambered long barrow near the village of Aylesford in the south-eastern English county of Kent. Probably constructed in the fourth millennium BCE, during Britain's Early Neolithic period, it was discovered in 1822, at which point it was dismantled. Built out of earth and at least five local sarsen megaliths, the long barrow consisted of a roughly rectangular earthen tumulus with a stone chamber in its eastern end. Archaeologists have established that the monument was built by pastoralist communities shortly after the introduction of agriculture to Britain from continental Europe. Part of an architectural tradition of long barrows that was widespread across Neolithic Europe, Smythe's Megalith belonged to a regional variant produced near the River Medway, now known as the Medway Megaliths. Several of these still survive: Coldrum Long Barrow, Addington Long Barrow, Chestnuts Long Barrow, Kit's Coty House, the Little Kit's Coty House, and the Coffin Stone.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smythe%27s_Megalith
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1749:
A plot by Muslim slaves in Malta to assassinate Manuel Pinto da Fonseca of the Knights Hospitaller was uncovered. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_of_the_Slaves
1894:
Colorado Governor Davis Hanson Waite ordered his state militia to protect and support the miners engaged in the Cripple Creek miners' strike. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripple_Creek_miners%27_strike_of_1894
1944:
World War II: The Invasion of Normandy, the largest amphibious military operation in history, began with Allied troops landing on the beaches of Normandy in France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings
1971:
Hughes Airwest Flight 706 collided with a U.S. Marine Corps F-4B Phantom II near Duarte, California, killing 50 people, the radar intercept officer of the F-4B being the sole survivor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughes_Airwest_Flight_706
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
polemology: The study of human conflict and war. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/polemology
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph. They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest — until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war. For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home. Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom. And for us at home — fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them — help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice. --Franklin D. Roosevelt https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt