Today is...

[IceWizard]

18 Feb 2017


World Pangolin Day



World Pangolin Day is an opportunity for pangolin enthusiasts to join together in raising awareness about these unique mammals — and their plight. These amazing creature numbers are rapidly declining in Asia and Africa due to poaching and illegal hunting. Across the world, there are eight species ranging from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered, so today is the day to start helping in raising awareness of these under-appreciated animals.

Very little is know about these creatures however the are the only scaled mammal. These unique mammals covered in hard scales, comprised of keratin. They predate almost exclusively on ants and termites. Predominantly nocturnal and elusive, secretive mammals so it makes hard work to find out more about their habits. Due to variation in their size and the size of their scales, each species of pangolin likely has a different range in terms of the number of scales. The number of scales on the Sunda pangolin has been estimated at approximately 900 to over 1000.

Want to learn more here are some facts…

* Pangolins are the only mammal to be covered in scales.

* To protect themselves, they curl into balls like hedgehogs.

* Their name comes from the Malay word ‘pengguling’ meaning ‘something that rolls up’.

* They are the most smuggled mammal in the world because people want their meat and scales.

* A pangolin’s tongue can be longer than its body when fully extended is can be 40 cm long!





And




World Whale Day



Giants of the ocean are celebrated on World Whale Day, which aims to raise awareness of these magnificent creatures. The annual holiday was founded in Maui, Hawaii, in 1980, to honor humpback whales, which swim off its coast. It’s the main showcase of the Maui Whale Festival.

Every year, crowds flock to the island to join in the free all-day event, organized by the Pacific Whale Foundation. The fun starts with a parade including floats, costumed characters and children’s events, plus music from Hawaiian and international stars.

However, you don’t have to visit Maui to mark this special day. Whales need support from wildlife lovers everywhere to meet conservation threats such as loss of habitat and pollution, so a perfect way to celebrate the day would be to take part in a fund raising event wherever you live. You’ll have a whale of a time and aid a great cause!



And



Pluto Day

I refuse to accept Pluto’s resignation as a planet.
– Amy Lee

If you’re like us, you grew up with a solar system that had nine planets in it. You also grew up in world that didn’t teach new math, but that’s a rant for a different day. Then one day they suddenly decided that designating Pluto as a planet was just wrong, and our most distant friend in the solar system suddenly was told he wasn’t good enough for the planet club anymore, and would forever be considered a ‘dwarf planet’. Kind of a consolation prize for those not cool enough for the big planets club. Pluto Day celebrates the discovery of Pluto in 1930, when it was designated as a planet, and that’s how it should have stayed!

History of Pluto Day

The story of how Pluto was discovered actually starts in the 1840’s, when one Urbain Le Verrier determined that there was a planet outside of Uranus, but that planet obviously wasn’t Pluto, it was Neptune. But the same methods by which Neptune was discovered led to another beyond it. You see, Uranus was demonstrating some oddities in its orbit, oddities caused by its nearest, yet undiscovered, neighbor, Neptune. Once they were able to actually observe Neptune, they realized that another planet must be disturbing Uranus’s orbit as well, what they were seeing couldn’t be explained merely by Neptune.

This led to a search for Planet X (an Amazing name that we think Pluto should have kept, but we’re not able to do anything about that, obviously) headed by Percival Lowell. Unfortunately Powell would pass from this mortal coil (and into the hands of Pluto, God of the Dead) before Pluto was discovered… At least, before he would know about it. You see, during their surveys of the deep sky in search of ‘Planet X’, two faint smudges would appear that were later to be revealed to be Pluto.

The actual discovery of Pluto happened in February of 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh. After so many years and so many lives spent searching for it, we think that Pluto deserves to remain a planet, don’t you?

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February 18 Birthdays


Dr. Dre - 52



John Travolta - 63



Molly Ringwald - 49



Vanna White - 60



Mary I of England - (1516 - 1558) (42)



Jillian Michaels - 43



Yoko Ono - 84



Enzo Ferrari - (1898 - 1988) (90)






February 18th

2003: Styx released Cyclorama, their first album without founding member Dennis DeYoung. It contained guest appearances from Brian Wilson, Billy Bob Thornton, John Waite & Tenacious D & peaked at 127 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart.

2001: James Taylor married longtime girlfriend Caroline “Kim” Smedvig in a Boston church. It was Taylor’s second marriage.

1980: Bill Wyman announced that he intended to leave The Rolling Stones on their 20th anniversary in 1982. Wyman didn’t leave until 1992.

1974: Kiss released their self-titled debut album on Casablanca Records. The album would later peak at number 87 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart & five songs from the album remain permanent staples in Kiss’ live set to this day.

1973: Long running radio concert series The King Biscuit Flower Hour premiered with guests Blood, Sweat and Tears & Bruce Springsteen.

1972: Neil Young received his third Gold record for Harvest, which went on to sell four million copies in the U.S.

1968: David Gilmour replaced Syd Barrett as guitarist & singer for Pink Floyd due to Barrett’s increasingly erratic behavior.

1966: The instrumental of the first version of “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys was recorded by Brian Wilson.

1959: Ray Charles recorded “What’d I Say” which is widely credited as being the song that broke Charles mainstream.



Birthdays:

Yoko Ono born in 1933

Dennis DeYoung - Singer for Styx born in 1947

Robbie Bachman - Drummer for Bachman-Turner Overdrive born in 1953