n Posted on August 20, 2020
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Key Points
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nWorld Mosquito Day?
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nI know we are supposed to honor all living things, because they are part of so many food chains (honestly, food webs!), and they all have a role in the circle of life.
nSo even ugly critters like hagfish get their special day…
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nAnd scavengers (creatures that eat dead creatures) like buzzards get their special day.
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nEven decomposers (organisms that break down dead organisms and waste products – yeah, we’re talking about poop!) like mushrooms and bacteria are usually honored as very important parts of an ecosystem. If there were no such thing as decomposers, there would be no circle of life.
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nBut mosquitos! Yitch! They are so pesky, so bothersome, and many times so deadly. Mosquitos kill more 13 times more people every year than snakes, crocodiles, scorpions, and hippopotamuses combined!
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nThat’s because, at least in some tropical locales, mosquitos can carry diseases like malaria. And that is actually why we have a World Mosquito Day: today is the anniversary of the discovery in 1897 that female mosquitos often transmit malaria from person to person. That discovery, made by doctor and polymath Sir Ronald Ross, allowed us to figure out effective ways to combat the disease!
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nFor example, since 2000, almost 7 million lives have been saved by simply using mosquito netting around beds! An estimated BILLION cases of malaria were prevented by those same nets.
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nSo…hooray for Doctor Ross, and for organizations like Malaria No More and Nothing But Nets!
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nAlso on this date:
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nBirthday of Bernardo O’Higgins, the “Liberator of Chile”
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nSt. Stephen’s Day in Hungary
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nAnniversary of the launch of Voyager 2
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nRestoration of Independence Day in Estonia
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nBirthday of U.S. President Benjamin Harrison
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nThe Revolution of the King and the People in Morocco
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nNational Radio Day
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nIslamic New Year
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n(date varies! a lot!)
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nPlan ahead:
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Check out my Pinterest boards for:
Check out my Pinterest boards for:
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nAugust holidays
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nAugust birthdays
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nHistorical anniversaries in August
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nAnd here are my Pinterest boards for:
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nSeptember holidays
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nSeptember birthdays
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nHistorical anniversaries in September
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