Porlock Stone Circle, on Exmoor in the south-western English county of
Somerset, is part of a tradition of stone circle construction that
spread throughout much of Britain, Ireland, and Brittany during the Late
Neolithic and Early Bronze Age between 3,300 and 900 BCE. The purpose
of such monuments is unknown, although archaeologists speculate that the
stones represented supernatural entities for the circles' builders. Many
monuments were built in Exmoor during the Bronze Age, but the only other
surviving stone circle in the area is the one near Withypool. The circle
near Porlock is about 24 metres (79 feet) in diameter and has thirteen
green micaceous sandstone rocks. Directly to the north-east of the ring
is a cairn apparently connected to a linear stone row. A small lead
wheel inside the circle suggests that the site was visited during the
Romano-British period. The site was rediscovered in the 1920s.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porlock_Stone_Circle>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1871:
A number of independent German states unified to form the
German Empire, with King Wilhelm I of Prussia as emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_of_Germany>
1915:
Japanese prime minister Ōkuma Shigenobu issued the Twenty-One
Demands to China in a bid to increase Japan's power in East Asia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-One_Demands>
1943:
World War II: In Operation Iskra, the Red Army established a
narrow land corridor to Leningrad, partially easing the protracted
German siege.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Iskra>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
banausic:
1. (formal) Of or pertaining to technical matters; mechanical.
2. (formal) Uncultured, unrefined, utilitarian.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/banausic>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
History will rightly remember today's violence at the Capitol,
incited by a sitting president who has continued to baselessly lie about
the outcome of a lawful election, as a moment of great dishonor and
shame for our nation. … I've been heartened to see many members of
the President's party speak up forcefully today. Their voices add to the
examples of Republican state and local election officials in states like
Georgia who've refused to be intimidated and have discharged their
duties honorably. We need more leaders like these — right now and in
the days, weeks, and months ahead as President-Elect Biden works to
restore a common purpose to our politics. It's up to all of us as
Americans, regardless of party, to support him in that goal.
--Barack Obama
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama>
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