Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, December 10, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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greensward
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| Article of the Day | |
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 The Gin CrazeIn 18th-century London, an unprecedented rise in the popularity of gin led to a decades-long epidemic of extreme public drunkenness known as the Gin Craze. Moral outrage and legislative action ensued. Between 1729 and 1751, a series of laws were passed to control gin consumption. Often, such laws resulted in mass law-breaking. Lower wages, rising food prices, and the unprofitability of gin production eventually conspired to end the craze. How had gin become so popular in the first place? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Brown Dog Affair: Rioting Peaks in London (1907)In 1903, anti-vivisectionists enrolled as medical students at University College London and published an eyewitness account of a brown dog that had endured months of surgical experimentation while allegedly conscious. A professor named in the story sued for defamation and won. After the trial, anti-vivisectionists put up a statue of the dog as a monument in a park, but mobs of angry medical students rioted and tried to destroy it. In 1910, it was taken down by authorities. When was it replaced? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Nelly Sachs (1891)Sachs was a German poet, translator, and dramatist. Born to a prosperous family, Sachs wrote poems mainly for fun until the advent of Nazism darkened her work and forced her to flee on one of the last flights to Sweden. Her lyrics from those years combine lean simplicity with intense imagery. Collections of her poetry include The Seeker and O the Chimneys. What other poet developed a deep friendship with Sachs, which unfortunately exacerbated both poets' mental illnesses? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 There, then, he sat, the sign and symbol of a man without faith, hopelessly holding up hope in the midst of despair.Herman Melville (1819-1891) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Nobel Prize Ceremony (2020)Nobel Prizes are awarded each year to people, regardless of nationality, deemed to have made the most significant practical efforts toward the well-being of the human race. In his will, the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) directed that the income from his estate be used to fund five annual prizes. The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901; a sixth prize—in economics—was added in 1969. Winners receive the awards at a special ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death. The peace prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway. More... | |