Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, February 10, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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uncultured
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| Article of the Day | |
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 Alan Magee's Death-Defying Free FallAlan Magee was an American airman who amazingly survived a 22,000-ft (6,700-m) fall from his damaged B-17 bomber during World War II. In 1943, Magee was on a daylight bombing run over France when German fighters shot off a section of his plane's right wing, causing the aircraft to enter a deadly spin. His parachute had been damaged and rendered useless, yet the wounded airman had no choice but to leap from the plane. He fell over four miles before what broke his fall? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman Opens on Broadway (1949)Considered Miller's masterpiece, Death of a Salesman won a Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award for Best Play, and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Best Play award in its first year. An unconventional tragedy, it tells the story of the last day of Willy Loman, a failed salesman betrayed by his own hollow values. The play follows Loman's stream of consciousness. As he talks to people from his past, those from his present wonder if he is unraveling. What famous actors have played Loman? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Leontyne Price (1927)When she was a young girl in Mississippi, Price was given a toy piano by her parents. Her passion for music was further inflamed by a Marian Anderson performance she saw as a child. She later enrolled in Juilliard and, with her remarkable vocal range and power, went on to become one of the Metropolitan Opera's most popular stars and the first internationally recognized African-American opera singer. What unusual fee did the soprano reportedly request for a 1981 appearance with Luciano Pavarotti? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 In any really good subject, one has only to probe deep enough to come to tears.Edith Wharton (1862-1937) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Magha Purnima (2017)Like Kartika Purnima, this is a Hindu bathing festival, and Hindus believe that bathing in the Ganges on this day is a great purifying act. When they cannot get to the Ganges, they bathe in the sea or in any holy stream, river, or tank (a pool or pond used to store water). There is a large tank that is considered holy at Kumbhkonam; Hindus believe on this particular day, the Ganges flows into the tank. Magha Purnima is a day for fasting and charities. Early in the morning, libations are offered to dead ancestors, while donations of food, clothes, and money are given to the poor. More... | |