Darjeeling is a town in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of Darjeeling district, in the Shiwalik Hills on the lower range of the Himalaya, at an average elevation of 6,982 ft (2,128 m). During the British Raj in India, Darjeeling's temperate climate led to its development as a hill station for British residents to escape the heat of the plains during the summers. Darjeeling is internationally famous for its tea industry and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tea growers of the area developed distinctive hybrids of black tea and fermenting techniques, with many blends considered among the world's finest. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway connecting the town with the plains was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999 and is one of the few steam engines still in service in India. Darjeeling has several British-style public schools, which attract students from many parts of India and neighbouring countries. The town, along with neighbouring Kalimpong, was a major center for the demand of a separate Gorkhaland state in the 1980s, though the separatist movement has gradually decreased over the past decade due to the setting up of an autonomous hill council. In recent years the town's fragile ecology is threatened by a rising demand for environmental resources, stemming from growing tourist traffic and poorly planned urbanisation.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1865:

Months after the Battle of Appomattox Courthouse effectively ended the American Civil War, the CSS Shenandoah became the last Confederate combat unit to surrender after circumnavigating the globe on a cruise on which it sank or captured 38 vessels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS_Shenandoah

1869:

In the first official intercollegiate American football game, Rutgers College defeated the College of New Jersey, 6–4, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_football

1917:

World War I: Canadian forces captured Passendale, Belgium, after three months of fighting against the Germans at the Third Battle of Ypres. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Passchendaele

1986:

Attempting to land at Sumburgh Airport in Shetland, Scotland, carrying workers returning from the Brent oilfield, a Boeing CH-47 Chinook crashed into the sea, killing 45 people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_British_International_Helicopters_Chinook_crash

1999:

Although opinion polls had clearly suggested that the majority of the electorate favoured republicanism, the Australian republic referendum was defeated, keeping the Australian monarch as the country's official head of state. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_republic_referendum%2C_1999

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

doodle (v): To draw or scribble (something) aimlessly http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/doodle

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

This is our time — to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes we can! --Barack Obama http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama