The Percheron is a draft horse that originated in the Huisne river valley, part of the former Perche province in France from which the breed takes its name. Usually gray or black, Percherons are well muscled, and known for their intelligence and willingness to work. Ancestors of the breed were present in Huisne by the 17th century, and were originally bred to be war horses. Over time, they were used for farm work, pulling stage coaches, and hauling heavy goods. The first purebred Percheron stud book was created in France in 1883. In the late 19th century, thousands of Percherons were shipped from France to the US, but after World War I began, some were shipped back to France to help in the fighting. In 1918 breeding of Percherons began in Great Britain and the British Percheron Horse Society was formed. The current US Percheron registry was created in 1934. Their numbers declined substantially after World War II, but later rebounded. The breed is still used today for riding, for pulling carriages and for heavier draft work. They have been crossed with light horse breeds to produce horses for a wide range of uses. (Full article...)
... that the ears of the sitatunga(pictured) are so specialized that they can pinpoint the direction of the origin of a sound?
... that Bas van Bavel has linked Dutch cleanliness to the production of cheese?
... that the family-run New Cheshire Salt Works was said to have had a "magnificent" Art Deco vacuum evaporator, decorated with stripes of different-coloured woods?
... that Laxman Gole, a contemporary Indian Gandhian described as a real-life Munnabhai, won the Zindagi Live National Award given by IBN-7?
... that the video game Her Story features entirely live-action footage?
In the Irish general election, the ruling Fine Gael–Labour coalition loses its majority and over a third of its vote, but Fine Gael narrowly remains the largest party.
Identifying the Alamo defenders began immediately after the 1836 battle. Tejanos (Mexicans born in Texas) and American colonists held off the Mexican army for two weeks before the March 6 siege brought death to all combatants inside. Of the 256 known defenders, one previously escaped and 43 were either out scouting, or left several days earlier by taking advantage of General Santa Anna's amnesty offer to Tejanos inside the mission. The bodies, including William B. Travis, James Bowie and Davy Crockett, were cremated on pyres and abandoned. Alamo scout Juan Seguín was on a run that day, and a year later officiated at the collection and burial of those ashes at a site later forgotten. Remains thought to be those of the Alamo defenders were discovered at the Cathedral of San Fernando during the Texas 1936 centennial and re-interred in a marble sarcophagus. (Full list...)
A diagram of Jupiter showing a model of the planet's interior, with a rocky core overlaid by a deep layer of liquid metallic hydrogen and an outer layer predominantly of molecular hydrogen. Jupiter's true interior composition is uncertain. For instance, the core may have shrunk as convection currents of hot liquid metallic hydrogen mixed with the molten core and carried its contents to higher levels in the planetary interior. Furthermore, there is no clear physical boundary between the hydrogen layers—with increasing depth the gas increases smoothly in temperature and density, ultimately becoming liquid.
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