Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, September 24, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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cerebral
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| Article of the Day | |
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 The Tunguska EventIn 1908, a massive aerial explosion near Siberia's Stony Tunguska River flattened 500,000 acres (2,000 sq km) of forest—felling an estimated 80 million trees over 830 sq mi (2,150 sq km) and producing a shockwave that shattered windows hundreds of miles away. Known as the Tunguska event, the explosion is thought to have measured 5.0 on the Richter scale, with an estimated energy 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. What do most scientists believe caused the event? 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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 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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 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... | |