The Poitevin is a French breed of draft horse. Named for the former province of Poitou in west-central France, now a part of Nouvelle- Aquitaine, it originated in the seventeenth century when horses of Flemish or Dutch origin, brought to the area by engineers working to drain the Poitevin Marsh, interbred with local horses. It may be of any solid coat color, and is sometimes striped dun, a color not seen in other French draft horses. Although it has the size and conformation of a draft horse, the Poitevin has not generally performed draft work. Its principal traditional use was the production of Poitevin mules, by breeding with large Baudet du Poitou donkeys; the mules were once in worldwide demand for agricultural and other work. In the early twentieth century there were some 50,000 brood mares, producing between 18,000 and 20,000 mules per year, but the Poitevin is today an endangered breed.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1763:

King George III of the United Kingdom issued a royal proclamation closing most of New France to the residents of the Thirteen Colonies and reserving it for indigenous peoples. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Proclamation_of_1763

1913:

The Highland Park Ford Plant in the Detroit area of Michigan became the world's first car factory to implement a moving assembly line, eventually reducing Ford Model T production time from 12 hours to 93 minutes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Park_Ford_Plant

1944:

The Holocaust: When Sonderkommando (work unit) members in Auschwitz learned that they were due to be murdered, they staged a revolt before being massacred themselves. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonderkommando

2006:

Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist and human rights activist, was assassinated in the elevator of her apartment block in central Moscow. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Anna_Politkovskaya

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

machicolation: 1. (architecture) An opening between corbels that support a projecting parapet, or in the floor of a gallery or the roof of a portal, of a fortified building from which missiles can be shot or heated items dropped upon assailants attacking the base of the walls. 2. (architecture) A projecting parapet with a series of such openings. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/machicolation

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.   --Desmond Tutu https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Desmond_Tutu