The Emu is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is also the second-largest flightless bird in the world, after its ratite relative, the Ostrich. The soft-feathered, brown birds reach up to 2 m in height and weigh up to 45 kg. The Emu is common over most of mainland Australia, although it avoids heavily-populated areas, dense forest and very arid areas. Emus can travel great distances at a fast, economical trot and, if necessary, can sprint at 50 km/hour for some distance at a time. They are opportunistically nomadic, and may travel long distances to find food; they feed on a variety of plants and insects. The Emu subspecies that inhabited Tasmania became extinct following the European settlement of Australia in 1788; the distribution of the mainland subspecies has also been affected by human activities. The Emu was once common on the east coast, but is now uncommon there; by contrast, the development of agriculture and the provision of water for stock in the interior of the continent has increased the range of the Emu in arid regions. Emus are farmed for their meat, oil and leather.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 476: Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was deposed. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_Augustus)

1260: Florence and Siena fought in the Battle of Montaperti, as part of the conflict between the Guelphs and Ghibellines. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Montaperti)

1886: After years of fighting against the U.S. Army and the armed forces of Mexico, Geronimo of the Chiricahua Apache surrendered in Arizona. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geronimo)

1956: The IBM RAMAC 305, the first commercial computer that used magnetic disk storage, was introduced. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_305)

1972: Mark Spitz won his seventh swimming gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, becoming the first Olympian to win seven gold medals at the same Olympic games. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Spitz)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both." -- François-René de Chateaubriand (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois-Ren%C3% A9_de_Chateaubriand)