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Chincoteague pony swim in 2007

The human history of Chincoteague, an island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, begins with Native Americans gathering shellfish there. By one popular legend, the name meant "Beautiful land across the water" in their language. The feral population of Chincoteague ponies likely originated from European settlers using the island in the 17th century to graze livestock. Seafood resources were systematically exploited in the early 19th century, and oysters became a major industry after the Civil War. Chincoteague's relative isolation ended in 1876 when the railroad arrived at Franklin City, across Chincoteague Bay, and a steamboat service was introduced; a road causeway was completed in 1922. The Chincoteague Fire Department was established in 1925 and took over the traditional pony penning to raise funds. The 1947 book Misty of Chincoteague and its 1961 film helped publicize the island. The annual carnival, pony swim (pictured) and subsequent auction now attract tens of thousands of visitors. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

A 1920s group of the Cotton Blossom Singers

... that up to 13 groups of the Cotton Blossom Singers (group pictured) toured through the United States at a time?
... that Ada Buisson died at the age of 27, and her short story "The Ghost's Summons" has been anthologised several times since her death?
... that some members of the Daughters of the American Revolution came up with the idea to design a flag of Colorado, unaware that such a flag already existed?
... that after a massacre that took place there, the village of Sohagpur was renamed the "village of widows"?
... that Theophilus Gates started a nudist free-love Christian sect in the mid–19th century near Pottstown, Pennsylvania?
... that after its merger with India, the last raja of Jubbal State joined the Indian Foreign Service?
... that Adele reduced the length of "I Drink Wine" from fifteen to six minutes because her label thought that no one would play a fifteen-minute song on the radio?
... that Dan Jones discovered that he was talented at taking throw-ins after having been a javelin thrower at school?

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The Chinese paddlefish, one of the world's largest freshwater fish species, is declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Amid protests over the economic crisis, Ranil Wickremesinghe is elected President of Sri Lanka by the parliament.

On this day

July 27:

Battle of Bouvines

1054 – During his invasion of Scotland, Siward, Earl of Northumbria, defeated Macbeth, King of Scotland, in an engagement north of the Firth of Forth.
1214 – Philip II of France decisively won the Battle of Bouvines (pictured), the conclusive battle of the 1213–1214 Anglo-French War.
1942 – Second World War: Allied forces halted the Axis invasion of Egypt at the First Battle of El Alamein.
1949 – The de Havilland Comet, the world's first commercial jet airliner to reach production, made its maiden flight.
1983 – American musician Madonna released her self-titled debut album, which set the standard for the genre of dance-pop for decades.

Conrad II of Italy (d. 1101)
Elizabeth Rona (d. 1981)
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (d. 2015)

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Today's featured picture

Ice speedway is a form of motorcycle-speedway racing on frozen surfaces. The sport uses specialised bikes that race anticlockwise around oval tracks between 260 and 425 metres (853 and 1,394 ft) in length, with a race structure and scoring similar to that of speedway racing. This photograph depicts the German speedway racer Max Niedermaier practising in Inzell, Germany, for the finals of the 2018 Individual Ice Racing World Championship, organised by the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme.

Photograph credit: Walter Isack

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