The Jordan River is a stream, about 51 miles (82 km) long, in the U.S. state of Utah. Regulated by pumps at its headwaters at Utah Lake, it flows northward through the Salt Lake Valley and empties into the Great Salt Lake. Four of Utah's five largest cities—Salt Lake City, West Valley City, West Jordan and Sandy—border the river. More than a million people live in the Jordan Subbasin, which is the part of the Jordan River watershed that lies within Salt Lake and Davis counties. During the Pleistocene, the area was part of Lake Bonneville. Members of the Desert Archaic Culture were the earliest known inhabitants of the region; an archaeological site found along the river dates back 3,000 years. Mormon pioneers led by Brigham Young were the first European-American settlers, arriving in July 1847 and establishing farms and settlements along the river and its tributaries. The growing population, needing water for drinking, irrigation, and industrial use in an arid climate, dug ditches and canals, built dams, and installed pumps to create a highly regulated river.
Read the rest of this article: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_River_%28Utah%29> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1718: Blackbeard the pirate was killed in battle by a boarding party of British sailors off the coast of North Carolina, ending his reign of terror in the Caribbean. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackbeard> 1869: The Cutty Sark , one of the last sailing clippers ever to be built, was launched at Dumbarton in Scotland. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutty_Sark> 1963: Hours after John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in aboard Air Force One as the 36th President of the United States. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_assassination> 1975: Two days after the death of Francisco Franco, Juan Carlos I was declared King of Spain according to the law of succession promulgated by Franco. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Carlos_I> 2004: Massive protests started in cities across Ukraine, resulting from allegations that the Ukrainian presidential election between sitting Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and leader of the opposition coalition Viktor Yushchenko was rigged. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Revolution> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: yardbird (n): 1. (chiefly US, slang) A person who is imprisoned. 2. (chiefly US, slang) A soldier who is required to perform menial work on the grounds of a military base <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yardbird> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: It is well known to all experienced minds that our firmest convictions are often dependent on subtle impressions for which words are quite too coarse a medium. --George Eliot <http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Eliot> _______________________________________________ Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list. To unsubscribe, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/daily-article-l Questions or comments? Contact [email protected]
