Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, January 18, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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voracious
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| Article of the Day | |
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 Goliath BeetlesNamed after the biblical giant slain by David, goliath beetles are among the largest insects on Earth. Native to Africa, they are found mostly in tropical forests, where they feed primarily on tree sap and fruit. Heavily armored, they measure from 2 to 4.3 inches (50–110 mm) long as adults and can reach weights of up 3.5 ounces (100 grams) in the larval stage, though adults are only about half this weight. How long do they live? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Legionnaire's Disease Mystery Declared Solved (1977)In July 1976, members of the American Legion veterans association who were gathered at a Philadelphia hotel began falling ill with a mysterious respiratory ailment that sickened 221 and killed 34. Months later, the US Centers for Disease Control announced that a new bacterium—Legionella pneumophila—had been identified as the culprit. It had spread through the hotel's air conditioning system. In 2010, it was reported that 20% of Legionella infections may come from what surprising source? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Joseph Bonanno, AKA Joe Bananas (1905)Born in Sicily, Bonanno came to the US illegally in 1924. He settled in Brooklyn and became a bootlegger and mob enforcer. In 1931, he founded the Bonanno crime family, one of five families that dominated organized crime in New York City. He ruled the family for decades, and although his empire stretched across the country and involved gambling, loan sharking, and drug trafficking, he was never convicted of a serious crime. He died in Arizona at the age of 97. What was the "Banana Split"? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 My experience is that as soon as people are old enough to know better, they don't know anything at all.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Festival of St. Peter's Chair (2021)At the Vatican in Rome, St. Peter is honored as bishop of Rome and the first pope. The current pope, wearing his triple crown and vestments of gold cloth, is carried in his chair of state in a spectacular procession up the nave of St. Peter's Basilica. He is deposited behind the altar on a richly decorated throne that enshrines the plain wooden chair on which St. Peter is believed to have sat. The ceremony dates back to at least 720 and is regarded as one of the most magnificent ecclesiastical observances to be held at St. Peter's. More... | |