Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, February 4, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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captious
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| Article of the Day | |
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 The Salic LawThe Salic law was the rule of succession in some royal and noble European families that forbid females to succeed to certain titles or offices in the family. It likely came from the Salian Franks, who prohibited women from succeeding to the throne. The rule was most prominently enforced by the house of Valois and the succeeding house of Bourbon in France and was involved in the rivalry of Stephen and Matilda for the English throne. What impact did it have when Victoria became queen of England? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The "Flying Tailor" Dies after Failed Parachute Jump from Eiffel Tower (1912)Parachutes at the dawn of the aviation age were bulky and, inconveniently, had to be pre-opened. Among those trying to improve upon their design was French tailor Franz Reichelt. He had some success testing his designs on dummies, but he had no evidence that his parachute would work with a real person when he jumped from the Eiffel Tower before a crowd of spectators and reporters. The chute failed to open, and he plummeted to his death. How had he convinced the authorities to allow the jump? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Charles Lindbergh (1902)In 1927, Lindbergh, an American aviator, made the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic in 33.5 hours, landing in Paris to a hero's welcome. He returned to the US a celebrity but moved to England in 1932 to escape the media frenzy surrounding the kidnapping and murder of his son. Returning to the US in 1940, he faced criticism for opposing US entry into WWII. Still, he flew combat missions for the US during the war. He helped invent what device that made open-heart surgery possible? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea.Henry Fielding (1707-1754) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be a roaring success— To be extremely or triumphantly successful. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Ice Worm Festival (2017)This zany mid-winter festival celebrates the emergence of the ice worm in Cordova, Alaska. The highlight of the three-day festival is the procession of a 150-foot-long ice worm followed by 500 or so paraders. Other events include variety shows, ski events, a survival-suit race, a beauty pageant, music, and dances. The celebration began in 1961, and the legend was born then that an ice worm hibernates during the winter in the Cordova Glacier but starts to hatch or wake up in early February. The worm has gained international fame, and the festival draws great crowds of people. More... | |
| In the News | |
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 UK May Be First to Allow "3-Parent Babies"The UK House of Commons voted Tuesday to allow a method of in vitro fertilization that uses DNA from three people. The House of Lords must approve the proposal before it becomes law. If it does, the UK would become the first country to allow the technique, which is intended to limit the transfer of mitochondrial disease from mother to child by combining a donor's healthy mitochondrial DNA with nuclear DNA from the intended father and mother. The nuclear DNA of the donor egg would be removed in the process. Many ethical concerns about the process have been raised. More... | |