The common toad is an amphibian found throughout most of Europe, with
the exception of Ireland, Iceland and some Mediterranean islands. It is
an inconspicuous animal as it usually lies hidden during the day,
becoming active at dusk and spending the night hunting for the
invertebrates on which it feeds. It moves with a slow ungainly walk or
short jumps and has greyish brown skin covered with wart-like lumps.
Although usually a solitary animal, in the breeding season large numbers
converge on certain breeding ponds, where the males compete to mate with
the females. Eggs are laid in gelatinous strings in the water and later
hatch out into tadpoles. After several months of growth and development,
these sprout limbs and undergo metamorphosis into tiny toads. The
juveniles emerge from the water and remain largely terrestrial for the
rest of their lives. The common toad seems to be in decline in part of
its range but overall is listed as being of "Least Concern" in the IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species. It is threatened by habitat loss,
especially by drainage of its breeding sites, and some toads get killed
on the roads as they make their annual migrations. It has long been
associated in popular culture and literature with witchcraft.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_toad>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1467:
Troops under Stephen III of Moldavia defeated the forces of
Matthias Corvinus of Hungary in present-day Baia, Romania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Baia>
1791:
The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution,
collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights>
1906:
The Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway, a
14.17-kilometre (8.80 mi) long deep-level underground tube railway
connecting Hammersmith and Finsbury Park, London, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Northern,_Piccadilly_and_Brompton_Railway>
1961:
Former Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death after
being found guilty on fifteen criminal charges, including war crimes and
crimes against humanity.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Eichmann>
2010:
A boat carrying around 90 asylum seekers, mostly from Iraq and
Iran, crashed into rocks and sank off the coast of Christmas Island,
Australia, killing 48 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Christmas_Island_boat_disaster>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
mango:
To remove the innards of, stuff (especially with spicy foods), seal and
pickle or pour boiling vinegar over (a fruit).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mango>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
In time of crisis, we summon up our strength. Then, if we are lucky, we
are able to call every resource, every forgotten image that can leap to
our quickening, every memory that can make us know our power. And this
luck is more than it seems to be: it depends on the long preparation of
the self to be used. In time of the crises of the spirit, we are aware
of all our need, our need for each other and our need for our selves. We
call up, with all the strength of summoning we have, our fullness.
--Muriel Rukeyser
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Muriel_Rukeyser>
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