Posted on June 17, 2021
Key Points
This is an update of my post published on June 17, 2010:
On this date in 1869, the English explorer Henry Kelsey spotted a muskox. He described it as an “ill-shapen beast.”
It is the first recording of a sighting of a muskox other than the native peoples of North America.
Muskoxen live in the Arctic, in Greenland, Canada, and Alaska. They are valued for their meat, milk, and fine wool—so much so, that they have been reintroduced in Siberia and introduced for the (apparently) first time in Scandinavian countries.
I found it interesting that muskoxen are more closely related to sheep and goats than to oxen.
Their name in English refers to the strong, musky smell when they are in rut. The various native names for the creatures refer to their appearance rather than their smell:
umingmak = “the bearded one” in Inuktituk
mâthi-môs = “ugly moose” in Woods Cree
mâthi-mostos = “ugly bison” also in Woods Cree
Also on this date:
Iceland’s National Day
Artist M. C. Escher’s birthday
Stewart’s Root Beer Day
Bunker Hill Day
Father’s Day in Guatemala and El Salvador
National Garbage Man Day
World Tessellation Day
Anniversary of the “Steal Treaty”
Dump the Pump Day
(Third Thursday of June)
Anniversary of the “Steal Treaty”
Dump the Pump Day
(Third Thursday of June)
Plan ahead:
Check out my Pinterest boards for:
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June holidays
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June birthdays
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Historical anniversaries in June
And here are my Pinterest boards for:
Check out my Pinterest boards for:
June holidays
June birthdays
Historical anniversaries in June
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July holidays
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July birthdays
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Historical anniversaries in July
