Blakeney Point is a National Nature Reserve near Blakeney on the north coast of Norfolk, England. It features a 6.4 km (4 mi) spit of shingle stones and sand dunes, as well as salt marshes and tidal mudflats. Land reclamation projects starting in the 17th century broadened the spit, but silted up nearby river channels. Ruins of a medieval dwelling called Blakeney Chapel and a monastery are buried in the marshes. The area has been studied for more than a century, following pioneering ecological studies by botanist Francis Wall Oliver and a bird ringing programme initiated by ornithologist Emma Turner. The reserve is important for breeding birds, especially terns, and for migrating birds in autumn. Up to 500 seals at a time gather at the end of the spit, and its sand and shingle hold a number of specialised invertebrates and plants, including the edible samphire. The spit is moving towards the mainland at about 1 m (1 yd) per year; several former islets have been covered by the advancing shingle and then lost to the sea. Managed by the National Trust since 1912, Blakeney Point lies within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a World Biosphere Reserve.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1576:

Stephen Báthory and Anna Jagiellon were crowned as the elected rulers of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Jagiellon

1786:

The Marriage of Figaro, an opera buffa composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marriage_of_Figaro

1897:

The Ramakrishna Mission was founded by Swami Vivekananda to serve as the humanitarian counterpart to the Hindu monastic order Ramakrishna Math. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramakrishna_Mission

1941:

Citizen Kane (scene pictured), a widely acclaimed film by actor and director Orson Welles, premiered. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Kane

1956:

A doctor in Japan reported an "epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system", marking the official discovery of Minamata disease. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamata_disease

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

acheiropoieton: (chiefly Eastern Orthodoxy) An image of Christ believed not to have been created by human hands; a miraculous representation of Jesus. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/acheiropoieton

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

We only have to look around us to see how complexity and psychic temperature are still rising: and rising no longer on the scale of the individual but now on that of the planet. This indication is so familiar to us that we cannot but recognize the objective, experiential, reality of a transformation of the planet as a whole.   --Pierre Teilhard de Chardin https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pierre_Teilhard_de_Chardin