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The Big Duck is a 20-foot-tall (6.1 m) ferrocement building in the shape of a duck, and a canonical example of novelty architecture. Built in 1931 in Riverhead, New York, it was moved several times to locations on eastern Long Island, ending up in Flanders in 2007. This structure inspired the word duck as a common term in academic literature used to refer to buildings shaped like everyday objects or describe excessive ornamentation used in graphical presentations of data. It was built by duck farmer Martin Maurer for use as a shop to sell ducks and duck eggs. This was during a period when duck farming was a growing industry on eastern Long Island and novelty architecture was on the rise due to the increasing popularity of automobiles. It was added to both the National Register of Historic Places and the New York State Register of Historic Places in 1997, and is a principal building on the Big Duck Ranch, which was listed on both registers in 2008. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that the Hotel Marcel (pictured) has been called both Connecticut's ugliest building and one of New England's best hotels?
- ... that a French soldier's room has not been touched since World War I?
- ... that a Molotov song named after a homophobic slur was described by a bandmember as an LGBTQ anthem?
- ... that French EDM producer Pépé Bradock opened an album with a track named after the elephant Abul-Abbas?
- ... that the video game Pictonico! allows players to turn their own photographs into minigames?
- ... that fashion designer Chet Lo's spiky knitwear is inspired by the durian?
- ... that Forever Ago was partly inspired by a developer's road trip along the Pacific coast?
- ... that NBA executive Norm Sonju bought the floor for the 1986 NBA All-Star Game and shipped it to a Christian camp in the Adirondacks?
- ... that a gender-swapped fictional version of the Roman emperor Nero appeared more frequently in online image searches than the historical figure?
In the news
- An avalanche on Broad Peak (pictured) in Pakistan kills 10 climbers.
- About 80,000 migrants cross the Morocco–Spain border at Ceuta, leading to at least 99 deaths.
- A magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, leaving at least 38 people dead.
- In Gaelic football, the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship concludes with Mayo defeating Kerry in the final.
On this day
- 686 – Second Fitna: Pro-Alid forces defeated the Umayyad Caliphate at the Battle of Khazir, allowing them to take control of Mosul in present-day Iraq.
- 1930 – New York Supreme Court judge Joseph Force Crater disappeared in Manhattan, in a case that was never solved.
- 1996 – Researchers announced that the meteorite ALH84001 (pictured), discovered in the Allan Hills of Antarctica, may contain evidence of life on Mars, but further tests were inconclusive.
- 2010 – Flash floods, mudslides, and debris flows across Ladakh in Indian-administered Kashmir left at least 255 people dead.
- 2011 – A series of riots broke out in several London boroughs and in cities and towns across England in response to the shooting of Mark Duggan by Metropolitan Police officers.
- Dominic de Guzmán (d. 1221)
- Lucille Ball (b. 1911)
- Bix Beiderbecke (d. 1931)
- John Richard Clark Hall (d. 1931)
Today's featured picture
_at_nest_Colonia.jpg) |
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The rufous hornero (Furnarius rufus) is a medium-sized ovenbird native to South America. Four subspecies are recognised across Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. It was first scientifically described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, and later placed in the genus Furnarius by Louis Pierre Vieillot. Its closest relative is the crested hornero. The species has benefited from human modification of the environment, and abandoned mud "oven" nests are often reused by other birds, including the saffron finch. It is Argentina's national bird, and is classified as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. This photograph shows a rufous hornero in its nest near Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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