QUOTE OF THE DAY

Best to live lightly, unthinkingly.


SOPHOCLES

ARTICLE OF THE DAY

Porcupines are rodentian mammals with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that protect against predators. The term covers two families of animals, the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family Erethizontidae. Both families belong to the clade Hystricognathi within the profoundly diverse order Rodentia and display superficially similar coats of quills: despite this, the two groups are distinct from each other and are not closely related to each other within the Hystricognathi.
The Old World porcupines live in southern Europe, Asia (western^[1] and southern), and most of Africa. They are large, terrestrial, and strictly nocturnal. In taxonomic terms, they form the family Hystricidae.
The New World porcupines are indigenous to North America and northern South America. They live in wooded areas and can climb trees, where some species spend their entire lives. They are less strictly nocturnal than their Old World relatives, and generally smaller. In taxonomic terms, they form the family Erethizontidae.
Porcupines are the third-largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most porcupines are about 60–90 cm (25–36 in) long, with an 20–25 cm (8–10 in) long tail. Weighing 5–16 kg (12–35 lb), they are rounded, large, and slow, and use aposematic strategy of defense. Porcupines occur in various shades of brown, gray, and white. Porcupines' spiny protection resembles that of the unrelated erinaceomorph hedgehogs and Australian spiny anteaters or monotreme echidnas.

WORD OF THE DAY

  

 

sacrilege

(ˈsækrɪlɪdʒ)

n

 

Meaning

1. the misuse or desecration of anything regarded as sacred or as worthy of extreme respect: to play Mozart's music on a kazoo is sacrilege.

2. the act or an instance of taking anything sacred for secular use.

 

Synonyms:

1. desecration, violation, blasphemy, mockery, heresy, irreverence, profanity, impiety, profanation, profaneness

2. disrespect, contempt, disregard, dishonour, lack of respect, irreverence, impertinence, discourtesy 

 

Antonyms: 

respect, reverence, piety

Usage:

1. Stealing from a place of worship was considered a sacrilege.

2.  It is a sacrilege to offend democracy.                                                    






                                                           

TODAY'S HOLIDAY

Swan Upping

 Third week in July

The tradition of marking newborn swans goes back six centuries, to a time when most of the swans on England's public waters were owned by the queen. Later the members of two livery companies (trade guilds), the Company of Dyers and the Company of Vintners, were given the right to keep swans on the Thames River between London and Henley.
Every year since 1363, the Queen's swan master and the swan wardens of the two livery companies row up the Thames, starting at Blackfriars in the center of London and continuing upstream to Abingdon, and "up" all the swan families into the boats, where they are marked with identification numbers. There are very specific rules governing how ownership is decided, and the six boats, each flying a large silk flag as they row up the river, form a procession that has changed little over the centuries

TODAY'S BIRTHDAY

Charles Horace Mayo (1865)

Charles Horace Mayo, M.D. (July 19, 1865 – May 26, 1939) was an American medical practitioner and was one of the founders of the Mayo Clinic along with his brother, William James Mayo, Drs. Augustus Stinchfield, Christopher Graham, E. Star Judd, Henry Stanley Plummer, Melvin Millet and Donald Balfour.