Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, January 8, 2022)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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ecumenical
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| Article of the Day | |
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 The MaypoleThe maypole is the center of activity during the celebration of May Day. The tall wooden pole is often decorated with flowers, greenery, and streamers. Dancers hold the loose ends of the streamers and weave intricate patterns as they encircle the pole and pass each other in dance. May Day festivities also include a May king and queen and people carrying garlands. The maypole probably originated in ancient fertility rites, but its symbolism has long been debated. What are some interpretations? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 US President Woodrow Wilson Introduces His Fourteen Points (1918)In 1918, Wilson presented to the US Congress his Fourteen Points as a guide for a peace settlement after World War I. He emphasized "open covenants of peace, openly arrived at," to change the usual method of secret diplomacy practiced in Europe. Wilson's idealistic message also laid the groundwork for the creation of the League of Nations. Opposition to the points quickly developed, however, and the subsequent treaty between Germany and the Allies sowed the seeds for what conflict? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Stephen Hawking (1942)Despite suffering from a neurodegenerative disease that has made it impossible for him to communicate without a voice synthesizer or to move around without a wheelchair, Hawking is one of the world's top theoretical physicists. While most experts in his field are little known outside the scientific community, Hawking has taken pains to make his work accessible to the layperson and, in so doing, has become a household name. What is the title of his bestselling book on cosmology? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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fox guarding the henhouse— A person likely to exploit the information or resources that he or she has been charged to protect or control. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Battle of New Orleans Day (2023)When British soldiers attacked near the Chalmette plantation outside New Orleans on January 8, 1815, they were met by a ragtag army of militiamen, sailors, and pirates fighting from behind barricades. The defending US troops were led by General Andrew Jackson, whose stunning victory—the British suffered some 2,000 casualties, while the Americans lost only eight men—made him a national hero. This day remains a legal holiday in Louisiana, where it is also known as Jackson Day or, in honor of Jackson's nickname, as Old Hickory's Day. More... | |