Pelicans are a genus of large water birds comprising the family Pelecanidae. They are characterised by a long beak and large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped up contents before swallowing. They have predominantly pale plumage, the exceptions being the brown and Peruvian pelicans. The bills, pouches and bare facial skin of all species become brightly coloured before the breeding season. The eight living pelican species (great white pelican pictured) have a patchy global distribution, ranging latitudinally from the tropics to the temperate zone. They frequent inland and coastal waters where they feed principally on fish, catching them at or near the water surface. Gregarious birds, they often hunt cooperatively and breed colonially. Four white-plumaged species tend to nest on the ground, and four brown or grey-plumaged species nest mainly in trees. The birds have been persecuted because of their perceived competition with fishers, and have suffered from habitat destruction, disturbance and environmental pollution. They have a long history of cultural significance in mythology, and in Christian and heraldiciconography. (Full article...)
1644 – The Shunzhi Emperor(pictured), the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, was enthroned in Beijing after the collapse of the Ming dynasty as the first Qing emperor to rule over China.
Haddon Hall is an English light opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by Sydney Grundy. Set at the eponymous hall, which today is England's best preserved medieval manor house, the opera dramatises the legend of Dorothy Vernon's elopement with John Manners; although Vernon married Manners in the 1500s, Grundy and Sullivan moved the setting forward to the 17th century. After its 1892 premiere at the Savoy Theatre, Haddon Hall ran for 204 performances. It remained popular with stage troupes into the 1920s.
This illustration, from the cover of the 1 October 1892 edition of The Illustrated London News, depicts a scene from Act II, Scene i: Dorothy Vernon steals away from Haddon Hall on a dark and stormy night.
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