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The Boring Lava Field is a Plio-Pleistocene volcanic field with cinder cones, small shield volcanoes, and lava flows in the northern Willamette Valley of the U.S. state of Oregon and adjacent southwest Washington state. The zone became active about 2.7 million years ago, with long periods of eruptive activity interspersed with quiescence. Its last eruptions took place about 57,000 years ago; individual volcanic vents are considered extinct, but the field itself is not. The volcanic field covers an area of about 1,500 square miles (3,900 km2) and has a total volume of 2.4 cubic miles (10 km3). The highest elevation of the field is at Larch Mountain, which reaches a height of 4,055 feet (1,236 m). The Portland metropolitan area, including suburbs, is one of the few places in the continental United States to have extinct volcanoes within a city's limits. The probability of future eruptions affecting the Portland metropolitan area is very low. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that after one of Piet Mondrian's paintings (shown) was discovered to have been hanging upside down for decades, the museum left it as is?
- ... that Charles III abdicated to become a monk, leaving his land divided between his younger brothers?
- ... that an artist tried to fly on a Hummingbird?
- ... that the Loophonium, a cross between a euphonium and a toilet, was played alongside the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic on April Fools' Day?
- ... that Edith of Wilton was criticized for not working after her death?
- ... that Twelves, a pet monkey, died and became a diamond?
- ... that "'average person eats 3 spiders a year' factoid actualy just statistical error"?
- ... that a rabbit played for the Philadelphia Eagles – as there's a drive into deep left field by Castellanos, that will be a home run. And so that will make it a 4–0 ballgame?
In the news
- In Mexico, at least 38 people are killed in a fire at a migrant detention facility in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.
- A tornado outbreak (damage pictured) in Mississippi and Alabama, United States, leaves at least 24 people dead.
- Robert Metcalfe wins the Turing Award for the invention of Ethernet.
- The World Baseball Classic concludes with Japan defeating the United States for the championship.
- An earthquake in Afghanistan and Pakistan kills at least 21 people and injures more than 380 others.
On this day
April 1: April Fools' Day; Iranian Islamic Republic Day (1979)
- 1833 – Mexican Texans met at San Felipe de Austin to begin the Convention of 1833.
- 1865 – American Civil War: The Union Army under Major General Philip Sheridan (pictured) inflicted more than 2,900 casualties on the Confederates at the Battle of Five Forks.
- 1879 – The Inland Customs Line, established by the British for the collection of the salt tax in India, was abandoned.
- 1922 – Under the South Seas Mandate, Japan set up a government in Koror, precipitating large-scale Japanese settlement in Palau.
- 1990 – The longest prison riot in British penal history began at Strangeways Prison in Manchester, lasting for 25 days.
- Giuditta Pasta (d. 1865)
- Marvin Gaye (d. 1984)
- Jofra Archer (b. 1995)
Today's featured picture
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Richard Gerstl (1883–1908) was an Austrian painter and draughtsman known for his expressive and psychologically insightful portraits, his lack of critical acclaim during his lifetime, and his affair with the composer Arnold Schoenberg's wife. At the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Gerstl studied under the notoriously opinionated and difficult Christian Griepenkerl. He began to reject the style of the Vienna Secession and what he felt was "pretentious" art. For the summers of 1900 and 1901, Gerstl studied under the guidance of Simon Hollósy in Nagybánya. Inspired by the more liberal leanings of Heinrich Lefler, Gerstl once again attempted formal education. His refusal to participate in a procession in honor of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria further ostracized him and led to his departure; he felt that taking part in such an event was "unworthy of an artist". Gerstl painted this oil-on-canvas laughing self-portrait in an Expressionist style in the year of his death by suicide. The painting is now housed in the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere in Vienna. Painting credit: Richard Gerstl
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