This Week in History

July 3, 1844, fishermen killed the last confirmed pair of Great Auks (Pinguinus impennis) at Eldey Island, Iceland. The Great Auk was a large flightless bird native to the North Atlantic. At its peak, the population of the Great Auk was in the millions. Because it and other flightless birds were popular as meat and bait, they were hunted tirelessly.

Why the fishermen killed the last breeding pair...