Zion National Park is located near Springdale, Utah in the southwestern United States. It has an area of 229 mile² (593 km²) and ranges in elevation from a low point of 3,666 ft (1,128 m) on Coalpits Wash to a high point at 8,726 ft (2,660 m) at Horse Ranch Mountain. Established in 1909 as 'Mukuntuweap National Monument, it became Zion National Park in 1919. The Kolob section was proclaimed a separate Zion National Monument in 1937, but was incorporated into the park in 1956. Zion is an ancient Hebrew word meaning "place of refuge" or "sanctuary," often used by the LDS settlers in Utah. Protected within the park is a dramatic landscape of sculptured canyons and soaring cliffs, mostly from the 170 million year old tan to orange-red sandstone of the Navajo Formation. Zion is located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert provinces. This unique geography and the variety of life zones within the park make Zion significant as a place of unusual plant and animal diversity.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zion_National_Park

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1836: The Republic of Texas declared its independence from Mexico. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Texas)

1861: The Emancipation Manifesto of Tsar Alexander II was proclaimed, abolishing serfdom in Imperial Russia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_reform_of_1861_in_Russia)

1943: World War II: Australian and American air forces attacked and destroyed a large convoy of the Japanese Navy in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bismarck_Sea)

1962: Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a basketball game, still a record in the NBA today. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilt_Chamberlain)

1998: NASA announced the discovery of water, likely a salty ocean, on Europa, one of the moons of the planet Jupiter. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_%28moon%29)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"Our dignity, our free institutions and the peace and welfare of this and coming generations of Americans will be secure only as we cling to the watchword of true patriotism: 'Our country - when right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right.'" -- Carl Schurz (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Schurz)