Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, October 25, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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volition
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| Article of the Day | |
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 Art ForgeryForgeries have been part of the art market for more than 2,000 years and date back to Roman times, when sculptors created copies of Greek works. It has since become increasingly difficult to pass off forgeries as originals, as sophisticated new dating and analysis techniques threaten to expose even the most ingenious forgers. Some exposed forgers have gone on to sell their fakes as copies, gaining fame in their own right. What forger's works became so valuable that they themselves were forged? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Cedar Fire Spreads in Southern California (2003)One of 15 fires to ravage Southern California during October 2003, the Cedar Fire was the largest wildfire in the state's history. Fanned by the Santa Ana Winds, the fire burned 280,278 acres (1,134 sq km), destroyed 2,820 buildings, and killed 15 people. It was not until November 3 that firefighters achieved full containment. The devastation caused by the fire led to criticism of the emergency response and calls for changes in the regulations for firefighting aircraft. What started the fire? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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.jpg) Johann Strauss II (1825)Strauss was a world-renowned Austrian composer best known for his waltzes, among them the popular Blue Danube. The son of a composer, he formed an orchestra in 1844 that was immediately successful and rivaled that of his father. Composing more than 400 waltzes, Strauss revolutionized the Viennese waltz, endowing it with new melodic, rhythmic, and orchestral richness. Why did Strauss's brother Eduard destroy a large portion of the family's original orchestral archives, including Johann's? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 But what we call our despair is often only the painful eagerness of unfed hope.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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down in the mouth— Visibly sad or depressed. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 St. Crispin's Day (2022)According to legend, Crispin and his brother Crispinian traveled from Rome to the French town of Soissons, where they preached and earned a living as shoemakers. The people of Soissons built a church in their honor in the sixth century, and since that time they have been known as the patron saints of shoemakers and other workers in leather. This is also the day on which the French and English armies fought the battle of Agincourt in the middle period of the Hundred Years War (1415). More... | |