Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, October 15, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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long-winded
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| Article of the Day | |
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 Dorus RijkersRijkers was a Dutch lifeboat captain and folk hero who became famous for his sea rescues of nearly 500 shipwrecked victims. His life-saving career began in 1872 while he was captain of his own boat. While at sea, he saved all 25 crew members of the ship Australia from drowning. He later joined a Dutch lifeboat society as a volunteer and saved hundreds of people during dozens of rescue operations over three decades. How did Rijkers get the nickname Opa, which means "Grandpa"? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Pierre Laval Is Executed for Treason (1945)In 1942, Laval, a French politician who had advocated collaboration with Nazi Germany, came to power. His government drafted laborers for German factories, cooperated in the deportation of Jews to death camps, and instituted a rule of terror. After France was liberated by the Allies, Laval fled. He was eventually captured and returned to France, where he was convicted of treason and executed. How was Laval's attempt to escape execution thwarted by his jailers? 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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 There is no recollection which time does not put an end to, and no pain which death does not remove.Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) | |
| 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... | |