Tuesday, October 21, 2025

The capybaraor greater capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is the largest living rodent, native to South America.  It is a member of the genus Hydrochoerus.  Its close relatives include guinea pigs and rock cavies, and it is more distantly related to the agouti, the chinchilla, and the nutria.  The capybara inhabits savannas and dense forests, and lives near bodies of water.  It is a highly social species and can be found in groups as large as one hundred individuals, but usually live in groups of 10–20 individuals.  The capybara is hunted for its meat and hide and also for grease from its thick fatty skin.   Izu Shaboten Zoo and other zoos in Japan have prepared hot spring baths for capybaras.  Video clips of the bathing capybaras have gained millions of views.  The capybaras have influenced an anime character named Kapibara-san, and a series of merchandise such as plush toys.   Capybaras have long been a figure in meme culture, particularly in the 2020s.  In 2022, Peronists in Argentina presented them as figures of class struggle after the disturbances in Nordelta.   Common meme formats pair capybaras with the song "After Party" by Don Toliver.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capybara   

Sandra Lynn Brown, née Cox (born March 12, 1948) is an American bestselling author of romantic novels and thriller suspense novels.  Brown has also published works under the pen names of Rachel RyanLaura Jordan, and Erin St. Claire.  Sandra Brown was born in Waco, Texas, and raised in Fort Worth.  She majored in English at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, but left college in 1968 to marry.  After her marriage, Brown worked for KLTV in Tyler as a weathercaster, then returned to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex area where she became a reporter for WFAA-TV's version of PM Magazine.  Brown started her writing career in 1981 after her husband dared her to.   Since then, she has published nearly 70 novels and had more than 50 New York Times bestsellers.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Brown    

The World Heritage List includes 1248 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value.  These include 972 cultural, 235 natural and 41 mixed properties in 170 States Parties.  As of October 2024, 196 States Parties have ratified the World Heritage Convention.   Find list of World Heritage sites at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/

People use the terms dolphins, porpoises, and whales to describe marine mammals belonging to the order Cetacea (from the Greek work ketos, “large sea creature”), and often use them interchangeably.  The orca, or killer whale, for example, is actually the largest member of the dolphin family.  Dolphins are by far more prevalent than porpoises.  Most scientists agree that there are 32 dolphin species (plus five closely related species of river dolphin) and only six porpoise species.  So what’s the difference?  It essentially comes down to their faces (who can forget Flipper’s famous “grin”?), their fins, and their figures.  Dolphins tend to have prominent, elongated “beaks” and cone-shaped teeth, while porpoises have smaller mouths and spade-shaped teeth.  The dolphin’s hooked or curved dorsal fin (the one in the middle of the animal’s back) also differs from the porpoise’s triangular dorsal fin.  Generally speaking, dolphin bodies are leaner, and porpoises’ are portly.  https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/dolphin_porpoise.htmlK    

October 21 is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 71 days remain until the end of the year.

1858 – French composer Jacques Offenbach's operetta Orpheus in the Underworld, featuring the music most associated with the can-can (audio featured), was first performed at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens in Paris. 

1959 – The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, opened in New York City.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_21    

For much of Harper Lee’s life, “To Kill a Mockingbird” stood alone as her only major work; her first and, apparently, last novel, narrated by a voice so clear and coherent it seemed impossible that it was her only output.  Then came “Go Set a Watchman,” published shortly before Lee’s death and initially heralded as a sequel, but subsequently seen as more of an early draft of her most famous work than as a new, standalone novel.  So, when eight short stories by Lee were discovered in her New York apartment after she died, it marked an important milestone.  Here, finally, was a chance to discover how Lee’s distinctive voice was honed in the years before she wrote “To Kill a Mockingbird.”  These short stories will be published for the first time on October 21, 2025 in a collection titled “The Land of Sweet Forever,” accompanied by an introduction by Casey Cep, Lee’s biographer.  For much of Harper Lee’s life, “To Kill a Mockingbird” stood alone as her only major work; her first and, apparently, last novel, narrated by a voice so clear and coherent it seemed impossible that it was her only output.  https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/20/style/harper-lee-short-stories-published-intl-scli    

October 21, 2025

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