Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, January 24, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
prognosticate
| |||||||
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 CarthageLocated on the Mediterranean coast of Northern Africa in what is now Tunisia, the ancient city-state of Carthage was founded around the 8th century BCE by Phoenician colonists. Through conquest, exploration, and trade, the city grew into an empire that dominated the western Mediterranean. After it was destroyed and then rebuilt by the Romans, it was finally razed by the Arabs around 700 CE. During its time, Carthage was criticized for supposedly practicing what unusual custom? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Serial Killer Ted Bundy Is Executed (1989)In December 1977, Ted Bundy escaped from jail in Colorado—for the second time—and fled to Florida. There, he resumed a streak of murders that he had begun in 1974, killing 12-year-old Kimberly Leach, among others. He was soon re-arrested, convicted of several murders, and sentenced to death. In an effort to avoid execution, Bundy confessed to numerous killings and promised to reveal more information in time. Despite this, he was executed in 1989. How many women is Bundy thought to have killed? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Edith Wharton (1862)Born into upper-class American society, Wharton was privately educated. She married a Boston banker in 1885, but as her older husband's mental health deteriorated, she devoted herself to writing. The success of her 1905 novel The House of Mirth established her as a leading writer, but she is perhaps best known for 1911's Ethan Frome, which explores the grimmer possibilities of New England farm life. What common saying is thought to have originally referred to Wharton's family? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Anyone can tell the truth, but only very few of us can make epigrams.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Alasitas Fair (2021)Each year on this day, a large marketplace in La Paz, Bolivia, is full of merchants who traditionally call out "Alasitas," an Aymara word meaning "buy from me," to potential buyers of their miniature wares. Shoppers can find tiny replicas of just about every kind of object—cars, houses, foods, furniture, clothes, tools, household goods, and, especially, money—and seek those which represent items they would like to have in the coming year. Presiding over all this downsized commerce is Ekeko, an Aymara god of material wealth, fertility, and good luck. More... | |