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.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammolite
_______________________________
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)