Nico Ditch is a six-mile-long (9.7 km) linear earthwork between Ashton- under-Lyne and Stretford in Greater Manchester, England. It was dug as a defensive fortification, or possibly a boundary marker, between the 5th and 11th centuries. The earliest documented reference to the ditch is in a charter detailing the granting of land in Audenshaw to the monks of the Kersal Cell. In the document, dating from 1190 to 1212, the earthwork is referred to as "Mykelldiche", and a magnum fossatum, Latin for "large ditch". Despite heavy weathering, it is still visible in short sections, which can be 4–5 yards (3.7–4.6 m) wide and up to 5 feet (1.5 m) deep. A 330-yard (300 m) stretch through Denton Golf Course and a section running through Platt Fields Park are considered the best-preserved remains. In 1997, a segment of the ditch in Platt Fields was protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The rest of the ditch remains unprotected.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1867:

The Manchester Martyrs were hanged in Manchester, England, for killing a police officer while helping two Irish nationalists escape from police custody. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Martyrs

1924:

The New York Times published evidence from Edwin Hubble that stated the Andromeda Nebula, previously believed to be part of the Milky Way, is actually another galaxy—one of many in the universe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Hubble

1996:

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was hijacked, then crashed into the Indian Ocean near the Comoros after running out of fuel, killing 125 of the 175 people on board. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Airlines_Flight_961

2012:

"Il Canto degli Italiani" officially became the national anthem of Italy almost seventy years after it was provisionally chosen following the birth of the Italian Republic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_Canto_degli_Italiani

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

exiguity: The quality of being meagre or scanty. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/exiguity

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

It isn't always easy to act on what's in your head instead of what's in your heart. And it isn't always right to. The whole trick to knowing what to do is deciding when to make yourself listen to your head, and when it's okay to just follow your feelings.   --Steven Brust https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Steven_Brust