Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, September 24, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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| Article of the Day | |
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 The Evolutionary Arms RaceAn evolutionary arms race is a struggle between interdependent organisms that evolve competing genetic adaptations with the back-and-forth escalation characteristic of an arms race. This competitive adaptation may occur between members of the same species or between different species, such as a predator and its prey, and it can be either symmetrical or asymmetrical, meaning competitors strive either for the same trait or to counter a trait in the other. What are some examples of this phenomenon? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Black Friday (1869)In 1869, American financial speculators Jay Gould and James Fisk attempted to corner the gold market by trying to prevent the sale of government gold, which they hoped to achieve by influencing President Ulysses Grant. The plan backfired when Grant discovered the plot and released $4 million of government gold for sale. On a day that came to be known as Black Friday, the price of gold plummeted, panic ensued, and thousands were ruined—though not Gould or Fisk. How did they gain access to Grant? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896)An American novelist and short-story writer, Fitzgerald was the literary spokesman of the "jazz age" of the 1920s. The characters in his books—which include This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and the Damned, and his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby—lead madcap, gin-drenched, spiritually bankrupt lives that closely resemble his own. In his later years, Fitzgerald was plagued by financial worries and his wife's insanity. Why might he have lied about having tuberculosis? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 All slang is metaphor, and all metaphor is poetry.Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Festa de la Mercè (2020)Nearly 400 events celebrate the patron saint of Barcelona, La Madonna de la Mercè, each year for a few days including September 24. In years past, the Madonna's feast was observed with religious processions, but these days the processions are augmented by the city's liveliest party of the year with fireworks, street art, live music and dancing, acrobats forming human towers, and sporting events. More... | |