Pavo is a constellation in the southern sky with the Latin name for peacock. It is one of twelve constellations conceived by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman. First appearing on a 35 cm (14 in) diameter celestial globe published in 1598 in Amsterdam by Plancius and Jodocus Hondius, it was depicted in Johann Bayer's star atlas Uranometria of 1603. The constellation's brightest member, Alpha Pavonis, is also known as Peacock and appears as a 1.91-magnitude blue-white star, but is actually a spectroscopic binary. Delta Pavonis is a Sun-like star some 19.9 light years distant. Six of the star systems in Pavo have been found to host planets, including HD 181433 with a super-earth, and HD 172555 with evidence of a major interplanetary collision in the past few thousand years. The constellation contains NGC 6752, the third-brightest globular cluster in the sky, and the spiral galaxy NGC 6744, which closely resembles our Milky Way but is twice as large.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavo_(constellation)

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1581:

Representatives of the States General of the Netherlands signed the Act of Abjuration, declaring the independence of the Dutch Low Countries from King Philip II of Spain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Abjuration

1882:

Boer mercenaries declared their independence from the Transvaal Republic and established the Republic of Stellaland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellaland

1936:

The Canadian National Vimy Memorial, dedicated to the Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War, was unveiled near Vimy, Pas-de-Calais, France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_National_Vimy_Memorial

1953:

Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl led a group of approximately 160 rebels in an unsuccessful attack on the Moncada Barracks, thus beginning the Cuban Revolution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moncada_Barracks

2008:

One day after similar bombings in Bangalore, 21 bombs exploded in Ahmedabad, India, killing 56 people and injuring over 200 others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Ahmedabad_bombings

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

thimblerig: 1. A game of skill which requires the bettor to guess under which of three small cups (or thimbles) a pea-sized object has been placed after the party operating the game rapidly rearranges them, providing opportunity for sleight-of-hand trickery; a shell game. 2. One operating such a game. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thimblerig

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The masses demand a fighting President, and that means you’ve got to offend somebody, because the way I see it, a strong offense is the best attack. So what can you offend? That’s an easy one. Offend the other candidates, because they’ll be too busy talking to hear you, and besides, they might not vote for you anyway.   --Gracie Allen https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gracie_Allen