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Today's featured article The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant. The giraffe is noted for its extremely long neck and legs, as well as its horn-like ossicones. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant relative, the okapi. The giraffe's scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east. Giraffes usually inhabit savannas, grasslands, and open woodlands. Their primary food source is acacia leaves, which they can browse at heights that most other herbivores cannot reach. Giraffes are preyed on by lions, and calves are also targeted by leopards, spotted hyenas and wild dogs. Adult giraffes do not have strong social bonds, though they do gather in loose aggregations if they happen to be moving in the same general direction. The giraffe has intrigued various cultures, both ancient and modern, for its peculiar appearance, and has often been featured in paintings, books and cartoons. It is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Least Concern, but has been extirpated from many parts of its former range, and some subspecies are classified as Endangered. (more...) Recently featured: Georg Solti – Pham Ngoc Thao – Ed, Edd n Eddy Did you know... From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that Puritan Reverend John Wilson implored Mary Dyer (pictured) to repent and not be "carried away by deceit of the devil" before her execution in Boston as a Quaker martyr? ... that the Olympic Stadium in Manchester's bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics was later redesigned and used for the 2002 Commonwealth Games? ... that in its first six weeks of operation, No. 3 Aircraft Depot RAAF assembled 123 P-39 Airacobra fighters and a dozen B-26 Marauder medium bombers? ... that John R. Tunis, who has been called the "inventor of the modern sports story", took part in the first trans-Atlantic sportscast and the first broadcast of the Wimbledon Championship to the U.S.? ... that as of 2011, Catequilla is said to be "the only important pre-Inca site in Ecuador to have been commercially exploited"? ... that American archer Miranda Leek, who is competing in the 2012 Summer Olympics, first learned to shoot at age five? ... that Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter while under the influence of LSD?

In the news At least 42 people are killed in clashes between rebels and Tajik government troops in Gorno-Badakhshan. Ghanaian President John Atta Mills (pictured) dies at the age of 68 and is succeeded by Vice President John Dramani Mahama. At least 116 people are killed and more than 250 others wounded in a string of bombings and attacks in Iraq. In golf, Ernie Els wins the Open Championship. In cycling, Bradley Wiggins becomes the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France. Pranab Mukherjee is elected President of India. On this day... July 26 1882 – Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal, loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's epic poem Parzival about Arthurian knight Percival and his quest for the Holy Grail, officially premiered at the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth, Bavaria (present-day Germany). 1887 – L. L. Zamenhof published Unua Libro, the first publication to describe Esperanto, a constructed international language. 1936 – The Canadian National Vimy Memorial (pictured), a memorial site near Vimy, Pas-de-Calais, France, dedicated to the memory of Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War, was unveiled. 1953 – Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl led a group of approximately 160 rebels in an unsuccessful attack on the Moncada Barracks, thus beginning the Cuban Revolution. 2007 – After widespread controversy throughout Wales, Shambo, a black Friesian bull that had been adopted by the local Hindu community, was slaughtered due to concerns about bovine tuberculosis. More anniversaries: July 25 – July 26 – July 27 It is now July 26, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture The Bay of Kotor is a winding bay on the Adriatic Sea in south-western Montenegro. It is a ria of the disintegrated Bokelj River which used to run from the high mountain plateaus of Mount Orjen. The bay has been inhabited since antiquity and has some well preserved medieval towns, making it an important tourist attraction in Montenegro. Photo: Ggia Recently featured: "Face on Mars" – Bassian Thrush – Fields Medal

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