Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, February 15, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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paterfamilias
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| Article of the Day | |
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 The WheelPerhaps the most important invention in history, the wheel was—and remains—essential to the development of human civilization. The first wheels appeared in the 4th millennium BCE and were solid wooden disks. Spoked wheels were developed about 1,000 years later in Asia Minor and were used in the chariots of Caucasian horse cultures, which then penetrated into the Greek peninsula and laid the foundation for classical Greece. The spoked wheel remained in use without major modifications until when? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Canada Adopts Maple Leaf Flag (1965)By the 1960s, Canada had been an organized dominion for a century and an equal, autonomous partner of Britain for decades. Consequently, its British-derived flag had become the subject of intense controversy. Following the Great Flag Debate of 1964, Canada's Parliament considered several possible designs before choosing the red-and-white maple leaf flag. In what foreign conflict had the previous flag's design, which incorporated the Union Jack, caused trouble for Canadian peacekeeping forces? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Irena Sendler (1910)Working with Polish resistance groups and a network of helpers, Sendler saved 2,500 Jewish children during WWII by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto, sometimes hidden in suitcases. After changing the children's names and arranging for their care, she buried records of their identities in jars, hoping to someday reunite them with their parents. Though she was arrested, tortured, and reportedly executed in 1943, she actually survived the war and lived to be 98. How did she survive the Nazis? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 No animal ever invented anything so bad as drunkenness—or so good as drink.Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Serbia Statehood Day of the Republic (2021)On February 15, 1804, Serbian patriot Djordje Petrovic Karadjordje led an uprising against the Turkish Ottoman Empire to gain independence. A second uprising occurred in 1815 and was successful; Serbia formally gained independence in 1829. In 2001, the Serbian Parliament declared February 15 a state holiday to commemorate the day that the first Serbian uprising began. A ceremony is held in Orasac to celebrate the uprising and first constitution (signed in 1835). The main celebrations include festive concerts, film and theater premiers, exhibitions, and many other events. More... | |