Chetro Ketl is an Ancestral Puebloan great house and American archeological site located in Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico. Construction on Chetro Ketl began c. 990 and was largely complete by 1075. Following the onset of a severe drought, most Chacoans emigrated from the canyon by 1140. The great house was rediscovered in 1823 by the Spanish governor of New Mexico and explored in 1849 by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Chaco scholars estimate that it required more than 500,000 man-hours, 26,000 trees, and 50 million sandstone blocks to erect Chetro Ketl. The building contained around 400 rooms and was the largest great house by area in Chaco Canyon, covering nearly 3 acres (1.2 ha). Chetro Ketl's purpose is widely debated, but many archeologists believe the building was a place of large-scale ceremony that held an important position within the larger Chacoan system. The building has deteriorated significantly since its rediscovery in the early 19th century, and its usefulness as a source of information about Chacoan culture is slowly diminishing.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1792:

French Revolution: One day after the National Convention voted to abolish the monarchy, the French First Republic came into being. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_First_Republic

1862:

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring the freedom of all slaves in Confederate territory by January 1, 1863. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation

1922:

After nine days, the Great Fire of Smyrna was extinguished, having caused tens of thousands of deaths. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_Smyrna

1955:

ITV was founded as the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITV_(TV_network)

1965:

The United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for an unconditional ceasefire in the Indo-Pakistani War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1965

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

nothospecies: (botany) A hybrid which is formed by direct hybridization of two species, not other hybrids. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nothospecies

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I urge you to work together in promoting a true, worldwide ethical mobilization which, beyond all differences of religious or political convictions, will spread and put into practice a shared ideal of fraternity and solidarity, especially with regard to the poorest and those most excluded.   --Pope Francis https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pope_Francis