SheiKra is a steel Dive Coaster roller coaster at the Busch Gardens Tampa Bay amusement park in Tampa, Florida, United States. The name is derived from "shikra", an Asian-African hawk that is known to dive vertically for its prey. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride was planned to reach a height of approximately 160 feet (49 m), but this was later changed to 200 feet (61 m). It reaches a maximum speed of 70 miles per hour (110 km/h), and has a total track length of 3,188 feet (972 m). It opened in 2005, and was converted to a floorless roller coaster in 2007, following the opening of its sister Dive Coaster Griffon at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. SheiKra was the first Dive Coaster to be constructed in North America; it was also the first of its kind to feature a vertical drop, a splashdown and an Immelmann loop. It broke the records for the world's longest, tallest, and fastest Dive Coaster, but has since lost these records. In 2005, Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awards voted it the fourth-best new steel roller coaster of that year (in a three-way tie) and the 28th-best steel roller coaster. It was voted the 30th-best steel roller coaster in 2012.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SheiKra

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1687:

The Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Isaac Newton was first published, describing his laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophi%C3%A6_Naturalis_Principia_Mathematica

1937:

The Hormel Foods Corporation introduced Spam, the canned precooked meat product that would eventually enter into pop culture, folklore, and urban legend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam

1950:

Korean War: In the first encounter between North Korean and American forces, the unprepared and undisciplined U.S. Army task force was routed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Osan

2006:

The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting hours after North Korea reportedly tested at least seven separate ballistic missiles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_North_Korean_missile_test

2009:

A series of violent riots broke out in Ürümqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2009_%C3%9Cr%C3%BCmqi_riots

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

gruntled: (humorous) Satisfied. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gruntled

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Beauty is always the result of an accident. Of a violent lapse between acquired habits and those yet to be acquired. It baffles and disgusts. It may even horrify. Once the new habit has been acquired, the accident ceases to be an accident. It becomes classical and loses its shock value.   --Jean Cocteau https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_Cocteau