The Branford Steam Railroad is a 7.2-mile (11.6 km) standard-gauge
industrial railroad that serves the Tilcon Connecticut stone quarry in
North Branford, Connecticut, in the United States. It was founded in
1903 by Louis A. Fisk, a businessman from Branford, Connecticut, to
transport passengers to a trotting park for horses. By 1916, the company
had ended passenger service in favor of freight transport. The company
has hauled trap rock from the Totoket Mountain quarry in North Branford
continuously since 1914. A southern extension was built to a dock on
Long Island Sound at Pine Orchard, Branford, which remains in use today
to transfer rock to barges. Trap rock is also transported by rail to an
interchange with the Providence and Worcester Railroad. The company's
last steam locomotive was retired in 1960; the name is retained to
distinguish it from the nearby Branford Electric Railway, operated by a
museum dedicated to streetcars.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branford_Steam_Railroad>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1808:
King Charles IV of Spain was forced to abdicate in favour of
his son Ferdinand VII as a result of the Tumult of Aranjuez.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_IV_of_Spain>
1962:
Influential American musician Bob Dylan released his eponymous
debut album, mainly comprising traditional folk, blues and gospel songs.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan>
1979:
The American cable television network C-SPAN, covering
government proceedings and public-affairs programming, was launched.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-SPAN>
2008:
The gamma-ray burst GRB 080319B (artist's impression pictured),
the farthest object that could be seen by the naked eye, was observed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRB_080319B>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
feint:
1. (transitive, boxing, fencing)
2. To direct (a blow, thrust, or other offensive movement resembling an
attack) on some part of the body, intended to distract from a real
attack on another part.
3. (rare) To direct a feint or mock attack against (someone).
4. (intransitive, boxing, fencing, also often military) To make a feint
or mock attack.
5. (often military) A movement made to confuse an opponent; a dummy.
6. (boxing, fencing) A blow, thrust, or other offensive movement
resembling an attack on some part of the body, intended to distract from
a real attack on another part.
7. (figuratively) Something feigned; a false or pretend appearance; a
pretence or stratagem.
8. (boxing, fencing, also often military) Of an attack or offensive
movement: directed toward a different part from the intended strike.
9. (obsolete) Feigned, counterfeit, fake. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/feint>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Times change but principles endure. The jury has protected us
from the abuse of power. While human government exists the tendency to
abuse power will remain. This system, coming down from former
generations crowned with the honors of age, is today and for the future
our hope. Let us correct its defects with kindly hands, let us purge it
of its imperfections and it will be, as in the past, the bulwark of our
liberties.
--William Jennings Bryan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Jennings_Bryan>
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