Yogo sapphires are a variety of corundum found only in Yogo Gulch,
Montana, part of the Little Belt Mountains in Judith Basin County, on
land once inhabited by the Piegan Blackfeet people. Yogos are typically
cornflower blue in color, a result of trace amounts of iron and
titanium. Many gemologists consider them among the finest sapphires in
the world. They have high uniform clarity and maintain their brilliance
under artificial light. Because Yogo sapphires occur within a vertically
dipping resistive igneous dike, mining efforts have been sporadic and
rarely profitable. It is estimated that at least 28,000,000 carats
(5,600 kg) of Yogos are still in the ground. The Smithsonian
Institution first reported on Yogos in the museum's annual report on
June 30, 1899. Jewelry containing Yogos was given to First Ladies
Florence Harding and Bess Truman; in addition, many gems were sold in
Europe. Today, several Yogo sapphires are part of the Smithsonian
Institution's gem collection. In 1969, the sapphire was co-designated
along with the agate as Montana's state gemstones.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogo_sapphire>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1859:
French acrobat Charles Blondin crossed Niagara Gorge on a
tightrope, turning him into one of the world's most famous tightrope
walkers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Blondin>
1908:
A massive explosion occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska
River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, knocking over 80 million
trees (sample pictured) over 2,150 square kilometres (830 sq mi).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event>
1922:
The United States and the Dominican Republic signed an
agreement that ended the former's occupation of the latter two years
later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_the_Dominican_Republic_(1916%E2%80%931924)>
1972:
The International Time Bureau added the first leap second to
the Coordinated Universal Time time scale.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_second>
2009 - Schoolgirl Bahia Bakari was the sole survivor when Yemenia Flight
626 crashed into the Indian Ocean killing 152 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemenia_Flight_626>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
miserabilist:
One who is unhappy, or extols being miserable as a virtue; a philosopher
of pessimism.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/miserabilist>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I see myself as a huge fiery comet, a shooting star. Everyone stops,
points up and gasps "Oh look at that!" Then — whoosh, and I'm gone...
and they'll never see anything like it ever again ... and they won't be
able to forget me — ever.
--Jim Morrison
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jim_Morrison>