Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, May 7, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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pandemonium
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| Article of the Day | |
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 The Deadly Yellow RiverStretching 3,395 miles (5,464 km), the Yellow River, or Huang He, is the world's sixth longest river. Called the "the cradle of Chinese civilization" because its basin is the birthplace of the northern Chinese civilizations, the oft-flooding river has also earned the nickname "China's Sorrow." Its floods—more than 1,500 in the last 3 to 4 millennia—have caused some of the deadliest natural disasters in human history and claimed millions of lives. How was the river once used as a weapon of war? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 West German Chancellor Willy Brandt Resigns (1974)Brandt fled his native Germany for Norway after the rise of the Nazis in the 1930s. Returning after the war, he became involved in politics and, in 1969, was elected chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. As chancellor, he greatly improved relations with East Germany, the Soviet Union, and Poland, and in 1971 he received the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1974, he was forced to resign after an embarrassing scandal in which one of his close aides was exposed as what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Robert Browning (1812)Browning was a leading Victorian poet known for his dramatic monologues. In 1846, he secretly married Elizabeth Barrett, whisking her away from her despotic father to Italy. Barrett was already a famous poet, but Browning's poems—such as "Fra Lippo Lippi" and "The Bishop Orders His Tomb"—gained recognition slowly. Long after his beloved wife's death, his novel in verse about a murder, The Ring and the Book, finally earned him wide acclaim. In 1890, he became the first dead man to do what? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Misfortune, n.: The kind of fortune that never misses.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Calendimaggio (2020)According to legend, St. Francis of Assisi used to walk through the streets of Assisi, Italy, at night, singing. In early May each year, long processions of messeri (gentlemen) and madonne (ladies), escorted by knights and esquires, compete with each other in singing and music at the Piazza del Comune. In addition to commemorating the town's patron saint, these singing contests serve as an official welcome to May, which is known as the month of love. More... | |