The National parks of England and Wales are areas of relatively undeveloped and scenic landscape that are designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. Despite the name, national parks in Britain are quite different from those in the United States and many other countries, where national parks are owned and managed by the government as a protected community resource, and permanent human communities are not a part of the landscape. In Britain, designation as a national park can include substantial settlements and land uses which are often integral parts of the landscape, and land within a British national park remains largely in private ownership. There are currently 12 national parks in England and Wales, the newest and smallest being the New Forest created on March 1, 2005. The South Downs are also in the process of being designated as a national park. Each park is operated by its own National Park Authority. Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_parks_of_England_and_Wales _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1836: The Republic of Texas declared its independence from Mexico. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Texas) 1943: Australian and American air forces attacked and destroyed a large Japanese convoy in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bismarck_Sea) 1946: Ho Chí Minh became President of North Vietnam. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh) 1962: Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a basketball game, still a record in the National Basketball Association today. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilt_Chamberlain) 1998: The Galileo spacecraft discovered an ocean of salty water on Europa, one of the moons of the planet Jupiter. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_%28moon%29) _____________________ Wikiquote of the day: "From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere." -- Dr. Seuss (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dr._Seuss)