Dawson Creek is a small city in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. It covers an area of 20.66 square kilometres (8 sq mi) with a 2006 population of 11,615 people. Dubbed "The Capital of the Peace", it is a service centre for the rural areas south of the Peace River and the seat of the Peace River Regional District. Dawson Creek turned from a small farming community to a regional centre when the western terminus of the Northern Alberta Railways was extended there in 1932, and the US Army used that terminus as a transshipment point in 1942 during the construction of the Alaska Highway. Most of the city's development occurred between 1942 and 1966 when highways and railways were built connecting the farming area of the Peace River Country to the rest of BC through Dawson Creek. Dawson Creek derived its name from the creek of the same name that runs through the city. The creek was named after George Mercer Dawson by a member of his land survey team when they passed through the area in August 1879. The city, at the southern end of the Alaska Highway, is known as the "Mile 0 City" and is also home to a regional fall fair and heritage interpretation village.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1797: French Revolutionary Wars: British Lieutenant General Ralph Abercromby and a force of over 6,000 men invaded Spanish-controlled Puerto Rico. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Juan_%281797%29)

1895: The Empire of Japan and the Chinese Qing Empire signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, an unequal treaty that ended the First Sino-Japanese War. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Shimonoseki)

1942: World War II: Captured French General Henri Giraud escaped from German captivity in the K??nigstein Castle. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Giraud)

1961: Armed Cuban exiles backed by the CIA invaded Cuba, landing in the Bay of Pigs, with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Pigs_Invasion)

1975: The Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot captured Phnom Penh, ending the Cambodian Civil War, and established the Democratic Kampuchea. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_Civil_War)

1982: A new "patriated" Constitution of Canada, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, was signed into law. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Act%2C_1982)

1986: The Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly declared peace, ending the Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Hundred_and_Thirty_Five_Years%27_War)

_____________________ Wiktionary's Word of the day:

kedge: To move a boat by tossing a small anchor in the desired direction of movement, then hauling the boat by using the anchor cable. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kedge)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

I am not a novelist, really not even a writer; I am a storyteller. One of my friends said about me that I think all sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story or tell a story about them, and perhaps this is not entirely untrue. To me, the explanation of life seems to be its melody, its pattern. And I feel in life such an infinite, truly inconceivable fantasy. -- Karen Blixen (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karen_Blixen)