U.S. Route 40 Alternate (Alt US 40) is the U.S. Highway designation for a former segment of U.S. Route 40 (US 40) through Garrett and Allegany counties in Maryland. The highway begins at US 40 near exit 14 on Interstate 68 and runs 31.80 miles (51.18 km) eastward to Cumberland, where it ends at exit 44 on Interstate 68. The highway is known as Old National Pike because it follows the original alignment of the National Road. As the route of the historic National Road, there are many historic sites along Alt US 40, including the Casselman Bridge in Grantsville and the last remaining National Road toll gate house in Maryland, located in LaVale. When the National Freeway was built in western Maryland paralleling the old National Road, the part of the bypassed road between Keyser's Ridge and Cumberland became Alt US 40, and other bypassed sections east of Cumberland became Maryland Route 144 and U.S. Route 40 Scenic. Although Alt US 40 is now less important because of the construction of Interstate 68, it remains an important route for local traffic and serves as the Main Streets of Grantsville and Frostburg. Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_40_Alternate_(Keysers_Ridge%E2%80%93Cumberland,_Maryland)> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1253: Nichiren (pictured), a Japanese monk, expounded Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for the first time and declared it to be the essence of Buddhism, in effect founding Nichiren Buddhism. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nichiren_Buddhism> 1611: The University of Santo Tomas in Manila, one of the oldest existing universities in Asia and one of the world's largest Catholic universities in terms of enrollment, was founded. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Santo_Tomas> 1923: London's Wembley Stadium, then known as Empire Stadium, was opened to the public for the first time and held the 1923 FA Cup Final between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United football clubs. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1923_FA_Cup_Final> 1944: World War II: During Exercise Tiger, a large-scale rehearsal for the invasion of Normandy, German S-boats attacked an Allied convoy, killing 946 American servicemen. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise_Tiger> 1994: Former CIA counterintelligence officer and analyst Aldrich Ames pleaded guilty to giving U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union and later Russia. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldrich_Ames> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: doggedly: In a way that is stubbornly persistent: Abby marked the International Day of the Dog with her beloved Jack Russell terrier, despite how he was doggedly gnawing through her extensive collection of shoes. <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/doggedly> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:   Ninety per cent of most magic merely consists of knowing one extra fact.   --Terry Pratchett <https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Terry_Pratchett>