The mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) is a large Old World monkey native to west-central Africa. It is one of the most colorful mammals in the world, with red and blue skin on its face and posterior. The species is sexually dimorphic, as males have a larger body, longer canine teeth and brighter coloring. Mandrills mainly live in tropical rainforests but will also travel across savannas. They live in large, stable groups known as "hordes" which can contain hundreds of individuals. Females form the core of these groups, while adult males are solitary and only reunite with the larger groups during the breeding season. Dominant males have the most vibrant colors and fattest flanks and rumps. The mandrill is classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Its biggest threats are habitat destruction and hunting for bushmeat. Gabon is considered the stronghold for the species. Its habitat has declined in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, while its range in the Republic of the Congo is limited.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandrill

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1863:

American Civil War: The Battle of Bean's Station, the final battle of the Knoxville campaign, was fought in Grainger County, Tennessee. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bean%27s_Station

1981:

The Knesset passed the Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli "laws, jurisdiction and administration" to the Golan Heights, effectively annexing the territory internationally recognized as part of Syria. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golan_Heights

1998:

Kosovo War: Yugoslav forces ambushed a group of Kosovo Liberation Army militants attempting to smuggle weapons into Yugoslavia from Albania. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_14,_1998,_Albanian%E2%80%93Yugoslav_border_ambush

2012:

A 20-year-old gunman shot twenty children and six adult staff members in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook_Elementary_School_shooting

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

burnish: 1. (transitive) 2. To make (something, such as a surface) bright, shiny, and smooth by, or (by extension) as if by, rubbing; to polish, to shine. 3. Of a stag: to remove the velvet (“skin and fine fur”) from (its antlers) by rubbing them against something; to velvet. 4. (figuratively) To make (someone or something) appear positive and highly respected. 5. (intransitive) 6. To become bright, glossy, and smooth; to brighten, to gleam, to shine forth. 7. (figuratively) To appear positive and highly respected. 8. (countable) 9. A shine of something which has been polished; a lustre, a polish. 10. A shiny layer applied to a surface or other thing. 11. (uncountable) The making of something bright, shiny, and smooth by, or (by extension) as if by, rubbing; (countable) an instance of this; a burnishing, a polishing, a shining. [...] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/burnish

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

If your opponent strikes with fire, counter with water, becoming completely fluid and free-flowing. Water, by its nature, never collides with or breaks against anything. On the contrary, it swallows up any attack harmlessly.   --Morihei Ueshiba https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Morihei_Ueshiba