Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, August 23, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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suppliant
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| Article of the Day | |
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 Stede Bonnet: The Gentleman PirateIn 1717, a moderately wealthy landowner named Stede Bonnet decided to abandoned his wife and children and become a pirate, even though he had no prior sailing experience. He bought a 60-ton sloop that he named Revenge, outfitted it with 10 guns, and proceeded to capture and plunder vessels along the American coast. After about a year and a half of piracy, during which time he partnered with Blackbeard, he was captured and hanged. Why did Bonnet suddenly decide to become a pirate? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Freckleton Air Disaster (1944)On the morning of August 23, 1944, an American B-24 bomber aircraft crashed into the village of Freckleton in Lancashire, England, during a fierce storm. The plane hit the Holy Trinity School, three houses, and a snack bar for American servicemen. Fuel from the plane's ruptured fuel tank created an inferno. Of the 61 people killed in the crash and fire, 38 were children. What reportedly widespread belief among the American airmen about British weather may have contributed to the disaster? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Ernst Krenek (1900)Krenek was an Austrian-American composer born in Vienna to Czech parents. He studied in Berlin and Vienna and began composing in the 1920s. His 1926 jazz opera, Johnny Strikes Up, was extremely successful and has been translated into many languages. He explored atonal and 12-tone compositions, which lack a definable key. In 1937, Krenek moved to the US, where he became a citizen in 1945. In 1924, he began a short-lived marriage to the daughter of what famous composer? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last.Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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labor under the illusion of/that— To live, operate, or function with the unyielding belief in something, especially that which is fanciful, unrealistic, or untrue. Primarily heard in US. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Vulcanalia (2017)Vulcan was the ancient Roman god of volcanic or destructive fire. The Vulcanalia, or festival in honor of Vulcan, was held on August 23, right at the time of year when forest fires might be expected and when the stored grain was in danger of burning. For this reason Vulcan's cult was very prominent at Ostia, where Rome's grain was stored. At the Vulcanalia, which was observed in Egypt, in Athens, and in Rome, the priest or flamen Volcanis performed a sacrifice, and the heads of families burned small fish they had caught in the Tiber River. More... | |
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| In the News | |
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Tiny Robot Vehicles Travel to Your Stomach to Drive Away InfectionThe future of drug delivery may be placed in the hands of autonomous vehicles no wider than the width of a human hair. As reported by New Scientist, micromotors -- tiny, autonomous vehicles -- have been used in trials with mice to deliver drugs to clear bacterial ... More... | |