The Banker horse is a small, hardy, and docile feral horse (Equus ferus caballus) living on barrier islands in North Carolina's Outer Banks. Descended from domesticated Spanish horses and possibly brought to the Americas in the 16th century, the foundation bloodstock may have become feral after surviving shipwrecks or being abandoned on the islands by one of the exploratory expeditions led by Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón or Sir Richard Grenville. Populations are found in the Rachel Carson Estuarine Sanctuary and on Ocracoke Island, Shackleford Banks, and Currituck Banks. Although not considered indigenous to the islands, Bankers are allowed to remain because of their historical significance. They survive by grazing on marsh grasses—for water as well as food—supplemented by temporary freshwater pools. To prevent overpopulation and inbreeding, and to protect their habitat from overgrazing, the horses are managed by the National Park Service, the State of North Carolina, and private organizations; populations are limited through adoptions and birth control. Bankers taken from the wild and trained have been used for trail riding, driving, and mounted patrols.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

763:

The Abbasid Caliphate crushed the Alid Revolt when one of the rebellion leaders was mortally wounded in battle near Basra in what is now Iraq. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alid_Revolt_(762%E2%80%9363)

1840:

The French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville discovered Adélie Land, Antarctica. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Dumont_d%27Urville

1912:

Raymond Poincaré, who would pursue hardline anti-German policies, began his first term as Prime Minister of France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Poincar%C3%A9

1963:

Following a period of chaos in Congo-Léopoldville and United Nations intervention, the secession of Katanga came to an end. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Katanga

1976:

The Concorde supersonic transports began scheduled commercial flights to London, Paris, Bahrain, and Rio de Janeiro. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

scanno: A typographical error introduced by optical character recognition (OCR) software, which may mistake a letter or set of letters for a letter or set of letters of similar shape, as *tum for turn, or *Dosition for Position. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scanno

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I yield to no man in sympathy for the gallant men under my command; but I am obliged to sweat them tonight, so that I may save their blood tomorrow.   --Stonewall Jackson https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stonewall_Jackson