Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, October 15, 2018)Word of the Day | |||||||
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Article of the Day | |
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![]() Dog TagsBecause they resemble the identification tags found on dog collars, those worn by military personnel have also come to be known as dog tags. Now popular among civilians as fashion accessories, the tags are officially intended to aid in identifying those killed or wounded in battle. Before dog tags were invented, soldiers were known to scratch their names on the backs of their belt buckles or pin notes with identifying information to their clothing. Why are dog tags usually issued in sets of two? More... |
This Day in History | |
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![]() 11-Year-Old Grace Bedell Urges Abraham Lincoln to Grow a Beard (1860)A few weeks before Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the US, 11-year-old Grace Bedell sent him a letter urging him to grow a beard to win over voters. Bedell claimed that "all the ladies like whiskers" and would urge their husbands to vote for a bearded Lincoln. Days later, Lincoln drafted a noncommittal response in which he wondered whether such a change in appearance would be well received. Within months, he was sporting his now-iconic beard. What did he say when he later met Bedell? More... |
Today's Birthday | |
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![]() Sir Pelham Grenville "P. G." Wodehouse (1881)Wodehouse was an English-American comic writer who enjoyed enormous success during his more than 70-year career. His works are set in Edwardian England and feature idiotic youths, feckless debutantes, redoubtable aunts, and stuffy businessmen. His most famous characters are the young bachelor Bertie Wooster and his unflappable valet Jeeves. Although Wodehouse was knighted shortly before his death, the character of Bertie did cost him entry into the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1967. Why? More... |
Quotation of the Day | |
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![]() George Eliot (1819-1880) |
Today's Holiday | |
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![]() International Cervantes Festival (2020)Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616), best known for Don Quixote (1605), is honored in a three-week festival held in Guanajuato, Mexico, featuring orchestral music, opera, theater, dance, film and folklore. Although most festival events are held in the Teatro Juarez and the Teatro Principal, amateur Mexican actors often give street performances of Cervantes's famous one-act plays in the Plaza de San Roque. Various musical performances are a popular attraction, as are art exhibits, children's theater, and folkloric dance ensembles. More... |