Ammolite is a very rare and valuable opal-like organic gemstone found only along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains of the United States and Canada. It is made of the fossilized shells of ammonites, which in turn are composed primarily of aragonite, the same organic mineral that makes up nacreous pearls. It is one of the three organic gemstones (excluding those used primarily as ornamental materials rather than discrete stones), the other two being amber and pearl. In 1981, ammolite was given official gemstone status by the CIBJO, the same year commercial mining of ammolite began. In 2004 it was designated the official gemstone of the Province of Alberta. Ammolite is also known as aapoak (Kainah for "small, crawling stone"), gem ammonite, calcentine, and korite. The latter is a trade name given to the gemstone by the Alberta-based mining company Korite International, the first and largest commercial producer of ammolite.
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1770: Boston Massacre: The pelting of snowballs at British soldiers during a military occupation soon escalated into violence in Boston. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Massacre)
1824: Britain officially declared war on Burma, beginning the First Anglo-Burmese War. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Burmese_War)
1872: George Westinghouse patented the air brake for trains to stop more reliably. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/air_brake_%28rail%29)
1918: The Soviet Union moved its capital to Moscow from Petrograd. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow)
1946: The term "Iron Curtain" was first used in a speech by Winston Churchill. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Curtain)
_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:
"The most dangerous phrase in the language is, 'We've always done it this way.'" -- Grace Hopper (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper)
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