Interstate 8 (I-8) is an Interstate Highway in the southwestern United States. From the southern edge of Mission Bay in San Diego, California, it runs eastward across the Cuyamaca Mountains and the Imperial Valley. Crossing the Colorado River into Arizona, it continues through the city of Yuma across the Sonoran Desert, to the junction with I-10, between Phoenix and Tucson. The first route over the Cuyamaca Mountains was dedicated in 1912, and a plank road served as the first road across the Imperial Valley to Yuma; east of there, the Gila Trail continued east to Gila Bend. Several controversies erupted during I-8's construction process; questionable labor practices in Imperial County led to the federal conviction of mobster Jimmy Fratianno, and the Arizona government was found to have mismanaged financial resources by a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee. The route was completed in 1975 through California, and by 1977 through Arizona, though the bridge over the Colorado River was not completed until 1978. A portion of the freeway in Imperial County had to be rebuilt following damage by the remnants of Hurricane Kathleen.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_8

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1169:

Saladin was inaugurated as vizier of Egypt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saladin

1812:

The Boston Gazette printed a cartoon coining the term "gerrymander", named after Governor Elbridge Gerry's approval of legislation that created oddly shaped electoral districts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbridge_Gerry

1917:

First World War: Attempting to advance into Palestine, the British were defeated by Ottoman troops at the First Battle of Gaza. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Gaza

1974:

A group of peasant women in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India, used their bodies to surround trees in order to prevent loggers from felling them, giving rise to the Chipko movement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipko_movement

2010:

An explosion allegedly caused by a North Korean torpedo sank the South Korean warship ROKS Cheonan, killing 46 sailors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROKS_Cheonan_sinking

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

steampunk: 1. (uncountable, neologism) A subgenre of speculative science fiction set in an anachronistic 19th-century society. 2. (countable) A writer of steampunk fiction. 3. (countable, cosplay) A person cosplaying as a steampunk character. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/steampunk

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.   --Robert Frost https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Frost