Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the US states of Arizona and Nevada. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936, and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin Roosevelt. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over a hundred lives. The winning bid to build the dam was submitted by a consortium called Six Companies, Inc., which began construction on the dam in early 1931. Such a large concrete structure had never been built before, and some of the techniques were unproven. The torrid summer weather and the lack of facilities near the site also presented difficulties. Nevertheless, Six Companies turned over the dam to the Federal government on March 1, 1936, more than two years early. Hoover Dam impounds Lake Mead, and is located near Boulder City, Nevada, a municipality originally created for workers on the construction project, about 30 mi (48 km) south of Las Vegas, Nevada. Although mainly intended to control floods and provide irrigation water, the dam's generators provide power for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona and California. Read the rest of this article: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Dam> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1399: Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, deposed Richard II to become Henry IV of England, merging the Duchy of Lancaster with the crown. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry%C2%A0IV_of_England> 1744: War of the Austrian Succession: The armies of France and Spain won a pyrrhic victory over the Kingdom of Sardinia at the Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo near Cuneo, Italy. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Madonna_dell%27Olmo> 1791: The Magic Flute, one of the last operas composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, premiered at Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, Austria. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Flute> 1939: World War II: General Władysław Sikorski became Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Sikorski> 1955: Film actor James Dean suffered fatal injuries in a head-on car accident near Cholame, California, US. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Dean> 2005: The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published controversial editorial cartoons depicting Muhammad, sparking protests across the Muslim world by many who viewed them as Islamophobic and blasphemous. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyllands-Posten_Muhammad_cartoons_controversy> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: passively (adv): 1. In a passive manner; without conscious or self-directed action. 2. In an acquiescent manner; resignedly or submissively <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/passively> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: Reason is like an officer when the King appears; The officer then loses his power and hides himself. Reason is the shadow cast by God; God is the sun. --Rumi <http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rumi>