Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, November 16, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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rumpus
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| Article of the Day | |
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 The Pan-American HighwayStretching some 30,000 mi (48,000 km), the Pan-American Highway is a system of roads connecting North and South America. Originally conceived as a single route in 1923, it was financed by the US during the 1940s and 1950s and grew to include a number of designated highways in participating countries, extending from Alaska and Canada to Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. However, the system is far from uniform; some stretches are passable only during the dry season, and there are gaps where? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 LSD Is First Synthesized by Swiss Chemist Albert Hofmann (1938)Ergot, a toxic fungus that grows on rye, can cause spasms and hallucinations if accidentally ingested. In 1938, Hofmann was researching potentially useful derivatives of ergot when he first synthesized lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). However, he did not discover its hallucinogenic properties until five years later, when he accidentally absorbed some of the substance through his fingertips. In 1947, his laboratory introduced LSD as a psychiatric drug. What is "Bicycle Day"? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 George Simon Kaufman (1889)Kaufman was an American dramatist and humorist who co-wrote more than 40 plays, many of which became tremendously successful. His collaboration with Moss Hart produced such plays as Once in a Lifetime and You Can't Take It With You, and he also worked on the Marx Brothers' A Night at the Opera. Kaufman was also an influential drama critic for New York newspapers and was known for his caustic wit. What did he once suggest as a way to avoid crowds during a flu epidemic? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Art...is merely the refuge which the ingenious have invented, when they were supplied with food and women, to escape the tediousness of life.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Plebeian Games (2020)The Roman leader Flaminius is thought to have instituted the Plebeian Games in 220 BCE. They originally may have been held in the Circus Flaminius, which he built. Later, they may have moved to the Circus Maximus, a huge open arena between the Palatine and Aventine hills. The Games were dedicated to Jupiter, one of whose feast days was November 13, and included horse and chariot races and contests that involved running, boxing and wrestling. The first nine days of the festival (November 4-12) were devoted to theatrical performances. More... | |