The Sweet Track is an ancient causeway in the Somerset Levels, England. Built in 3807 or 3806 BC along an earlier structure, the Post Track, it was the oldest unearthed timber trackway in Northern Europe until the 2009 discovery of a 6,000-year-old trackway in Plumstead, London. It extended close to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) across the now largely drained marsh between what was then an island at Westhay and a ridge of high ground at Shapwick. Various artefacts, including a jadeitite ceremonial axe head, have been found along its length. Construction was of crossed wooden poles, driven into the waterlogged soil to support a walkway that consisted mainly of planks of oak, laid end-to-end. The track was abandoned after 10 years of use, probably due to rising water levels. Following its discovery in 1970, most of the track has been left in its original location, with active conservation measures taken, including a water pumping and distribution system to maintain the wood in its damp condition. Some of the track is stored at the British Museum and a reconstruction of a section was built at the Peat Moors Centre near Glastonbury.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

763 BC:

The Eclipse of Bur-Sagale was observed in Assyria, the earliest solar eclipse mentioned in historical sources that has been successfully identified. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse

1670:

The first stone of Malta's Fort Ricasoli was laid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Ricasoli

1896:

A 7.2 Ms earthquake and a subsequent tsunami struck Japan, destroying about 9,000 homes and causing at least 22,000 deaths. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1896_Sanriku_earthquake

1920:

Three African American circus workers were lynched by a mob in Duluth, Minnesota, a crime that shocked the country for having taken place in the Northern United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920_Duluth_lynchings

2001:

Leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan formed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Cooperation_Organisation

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

logion: 1. (theology) A traditional saying of a religious leader. 2. (specifically, Christianity) A saying that is attributed to Jesus but which is not in the Bible. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/logion

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I think it's already apparent that a good part of this Nation understands — if only instinctively — that anything which seems to suggest that God favors a political party or the establishment of a state church, is wrong and dangerous. Way down deep the American people are afraid of an entangling relationship between formal religions — or whole bodies of religious belief — and government. Apart from constitutional law and religious doctrine, there is a sense that tells us it's wrong to presume to speak for God or to claim God's sanction of our particular legislation and His rejection of all other positions. Most of us are offended when we see religion being trivialized by its appearance in political throw-away pamphlets. The American people need no course in philosophy or political science or church history to know that God should not be made into a celestial party chairman.   --Mario Cuomo https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mario_Cuomo