Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, October 7, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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venerable
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| Article of the Day | |
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 Penny-FarthingPopular in the 1880s, prior to the development of the so-called safety bicycle, the penny-farthing was an early bicycle with a large front wheel and a comparatively tiny rear one. Perched on a seat above the front wheel, the rider was unable to touch the ground with their feet. "Taking a header" was a constant danger, so some riders put their feet over the handlebars when coasting downhill to ensure that any fall forward would be feetfirst. How did one go about mounting such a contraption? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Most Lopsided College Football Game in US History (1916)In 1916, Tennessee's tiny Cumberland University canceled its football program, disbanding its team. Nevertheless, Georgia Tech's football coach, John Heisman, threatened the school with a $3,000 fine—a large sum of money at the time—if its team failed to show up to their scheduled game. Cumberland was forced to recruit new players to face Georgia Tech, and the trouncing they received is said to have been revenge for a baseball game in which Cumberland allegedly cheated. What was the final score? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, AKA Joe Hill (1879)A Swedish-American labor activist and songwriter in the early 1900s, Hill penned songs such as "The Preacher and the Slave," in which he coined the phrase "pie in the sky." In 1915, he was convicted on circumstantial evidence of killing a grocer and his son. To the labor movement, Hill's execution made him a martyr. Because he did not want to be buried in Utah, his ashes were shipped to supporters around the world. What intriguing evidence, found in his coat, seemed to support his innocence? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 He who throws away a friend is as bad as he who throws away his life.Sophocles (496 BC-406 BC) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Okunchi Matsuri (2020)The Okunchi Festival in Nagasaki dates back to the 17th century, when many Chinese lived in the city and when both Dutch and Chinese traders regularly anchored their ships there. The festival pays tribute to these traders by presenting both a Dutch dance and a Chinese dragon dance, along with street fairs and other entertainment. The Okunchi Festival also features the traditional procession of the mikoshi—the ornate palanquin on which the local deity is believed to descend for a ride as it is carried through the streets. More... | |