Everglades National Park is a U.S. National Park in Florida that protects the southern 20 percent of the original Everglades. It is the largest tropical wilderness in the United States and the third-largest national park in the lower 48 states after Death Valley and Yellowstone. The park was established in 1934 when canal-building projects in South Florida were threatening the quickly vanishing Everglades, a network of wetlands and forests fed by a river flowing out of Lake Okeechobee into Florida Bay. It was the first national park created to protect a fragile ecosystem. The park is the most significant breeding ground for tropical wading birds in North America and contains the largest mangrove ecosystem in the western hemisphere. It is home to 36 threatened or protected species including the Florida panther, the American crocodile, and the West Indian manatee, and supports 350 species of birds, 300 species of fresh and saltwater fish, 40 species of mammals, and 50 species of reptiles. Most of South Florida's fresh water comes from the Biscayne Aquifer, which is replenished by the Everglades.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1776:

The fourth North Carolina Provincial Congress passed the Halifax Resolves, the first official action in the American colonies calling for independence from Britain during the American Revolution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Resolves

1831:

Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester, England, collapsed, reportedly because of mechanical resonance induced by troops marching in step over the bridge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broughton_Suspension_Bridge

1910:

SMS Zrínyi, one of the last pre-dreadnoughts built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, was launched. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Zr%C3%ADnyi

1980:

Terry Fox dipped his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean at St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, and began running his "Marathon of Hope" towards the Pacific Ocean at Vancouver, British Columbia, to raise funds across Canada for cancer research. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Fox

2007:

The canteen of the Council of Representatives of Iraq building was attacked by a suicide bomber, killing one Member of Parliament and wounding 23 other people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Iraqi_Parliament_bombing

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

grandcat: (humorous, affectionate) A cat owned by one's child, having a status comparable to a grandchild. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grandcat

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The average guy is smart enough to know the difference between what works and what doesn't, and if you have bad information, sooner or later, you figure it out and you get onto something else.   --Tom Clancy https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Clancy