Megalodon (Carcharocles megalodon), an extinct species of shark, lived around 23 to 2.6 million years ago, from the Early Miocene to the Late Pliocene. Once thought to be closely related to the great white shark (C. carcharias), it may be a member of the extinct family Otodontidae. It may have looked like a stocky great white, measuring at most 18 meters (59 ft), and averaging 10.5 metres (34 ft). Its large jaws exerted an estimated bite force of 108,500 to 182,200 newtons (24,400 to 41,000 lbf), coupled with thick teeth to grab large, struggling prey, crushing the heart and lungs of the marine mammals – mainly baleen whales – that it fed on in oceans around the world. It is thought that its decline was due to competition from other large predators (such as Livyatan), the ice ages, and the shift in whale populations. The shark has made appearances in media such as the Discovery Channel's docufiction Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1793:

Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie inscribed his name on a rock near Dean Channel after becoming the first recorded person to complete a transcontinental crossing of North America north of Mexico. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Mackenzie_%28explorer%29

1975:

Stanley Forman took the Pulitzer Prize-winning photo Fire Escape Collapse, which spurred action to improve the safety of fire escapes across the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Escape_Collapse

2005:

London metropolitan police killed Jean Charles de Menezes, a Brazilian immigrant, after misidentifying him as being involved in the previous day's failed bombing attempts on the city. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Jean_Charles_de_Menezes

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

forex: Short for foreign exchange. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/forex

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

It is so amusing the way that mortals misunderstand the shape, or shapes, of time. … In the realms of the ultimate, each person must figure out things for themselves. … Teachers who offer you the ultimate answers do not possess the ultimate answers, for if they did, they would know that the ultimate answers cannot be given, they can only be received.   --Tom Robbins https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Robbins