The Great North of Scotland Railway was one of the smaller Scottish railways operating in the far north-east of the country. Formed in 1845, it carried its first passengers from Kittybrewster, in Aberdeen, to Huntly on 20 September 1854. An early expansion was followed by a period of forced economy, but in the 1880s the railway was refurbished, express services began to run, and a suburban service in Aberdeen started. The railway operated its main line between Aberdeen and Keith and two routes west to Elgin; connections could be made at Keith and Elgin for services to Inverness. Its eventual area encompassed the counties of Aberdeenshire, Banffshire and Moray, with short lengths of line in Inverness-shire and Kincardineshire. Fish from the North Sea ports and whisky from Speyside became important goods traffic. The Royal Family used the Deeside Line for travel to and from Balmoral Castle. The railway became the Northern Scottish area of the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923, passing on 333 1⁄2 miles (536.7 km) of line and 122 steam locomotives (including No. 49 Gordon Highlander, pictured). Only its main line remains, as part of the Aberdeen to Inverness Line.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1066:

King Harald III of Norway and Tostig Godwinson, his English ally, fought and defeated the Northern Earls Edwin and Morcar in the Battle of Fulford near York, England. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fulford

1498:

A tsunami caused by the Meiō Nankaidō earthquake washed away the building housing the statue of the Great Buddha at Kōtoku-in in Kamakura, Japan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8Dtoku-in

1971:

Hurricane Irene (satellite image pictured) departed Nicaragua to become the first known tropical cyclone to successfully cross from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Irene%E2%80%93Olivia

1984 - The Cosby Show, which became one of three U.S. shows to have the highest ratings five years in a row, aired its its pilot episode. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_(The_Cosby_Show)

2011:

The United States ended its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, allowing gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_ask,_don%27t_tell

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

anthelmintic: A drug for the treatment of intestinal worm infestation. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anthelmintic

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Men are constantly attracted and deluded by two opposite charms: the charm of competence which is engendered by mathematics and everything akin to mathematics, and the charm of humble awe, which is engendered by meditation on the human soul and its experiences. Philosophy is characterized by the gentle, if firm, refusal to succumb to either charm. It is the highest form of the mating of courage and moderation.   --Leo Strauss https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leo_Strauss