The Aylesbury duck is a large white breed of domesticated duck. Raising white ducks became popular in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England in the 18th century owing to the demand for white feathers as a filler for quilts. Over the 19th century selective breeding for size, shape and colour led to the Aylesbury duck. The opening of a railway to Aylesbury in 1839 gave access to the markets of London, making rearing Aylesbury ducks highly profitable. By the beginning of the 20th century competition from the Pekin duck, inbreeding and disease in the pure-bred Aylesbury strain and the rising cost of duck food meant the Aylesbury duck industry was in decline; the two world wars further damaged the industry. By the 1950s only one significant flock of Aylesbury ducks remained in Buckinghamshire, and by 1966 there were no duck breeding or rearing businesses of any size remaining in Aylesbury itself. Although there is only one surviving flock of pure Aylesbury ducks in the United Kingdom and the breed is critically endangered in the United States, the Aylesbury duck remains a symbol of the town, and appears on its coat of arms and on the club badge of Aylesbury United.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1407 - During the Ming–Hồ War, the Chinese Ming armies captured Hồ Quý Ly and his sons, thus ending the Vietnamese Ho dynasty. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming%E2%80%93H%E1%BB%93_War

1815:

Napoleonic Wars: French Marshal Michel Ney earned a strategic victory against the Anglo-Dutch army in the Battle of Quatre Bras. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Quatre_Bras

1883:

Over 180 out of 1,100 children died in the Victoria Hall disaster in Sunderland, England, when they stampeded down the stairs to collect gifts from the entertainers after the end of a variety show. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Hall_disaster

1967:

The first widely promoted and heavily attended rock festival, the Monterey Pop Festival, began in Monterey, California. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monterey_Pop_Festival

2010:

Bhutan became the first country to institute a total ban on tobacco. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_Control_Act_of_Bhutan_2010

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

abeyance: 1. (law) Expectancy; condition of being undetermined; undetermined ownership. 2. Suspension; temporary suppression. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abeyance

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Values exist in a transcendental realm, beyond space and time. They can neither be fought for, nor destroyed.   --Enoch Powell https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Enoch_Powell