Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, January 7, 2017)Word of the Day | |||||||
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refractory
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Article of the Day | |
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Chris BurdenBurden is a performance artist who emerged as part of the American art scene in the 1970s, performing controversial, dangerous pieces in which he used his own body as the art medium. During a 1971 performance piece titled Shoot, he was shot in his left arm by an assistant standing a short distance away. He was labeled insane following the performance, but it has since become one of his most well-known pieces from the period. Why did he resign from the University of California in 2005? More... |
This Day in History | |
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Galileo Galilei Discovers Three of Jupiter's Four Largest Moons (1610)Jupiter has more than 60 moons. The four largest—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto—were the first satellites of a planet other than Earth to be detected. They were discovered by Galileo in 1610, shortly after he invented the telescope, and are therefore known as the Galilean satellites. On January 7, 1610, Galileo observed near Jupiter what he described at the time as "three fixed stars, totally invisible by their smallness." How long did it take Galileo to realize they were not stars? More... |
Today's Birthday | |
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Joseph Bonaparte (1768)The older brother of Napoleon, Joseph Bonaparte served as French minister to Parma and Rome, and negotiated a treaty with the US in 1800. When Napoleon became emperor, Joseph bitterly protested being left out of the line of succession. In 1806, Napoleon made him king of Naples, and in 1808 he was made king of Spain instead. He reluctantly abdicated after failure in the Peninsular War. He then lived mainly in the US state of New Jersey, where he was reputed to have seen what legendary creature? More... |
Quotation of the Day | |
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When friends grow cold, and the converse of intimates languishes into vapid civility and commonplace, these [books] only continue the unaltered countenance of happier days, and cheer us with that true friendship which never deceived hope nor deserted sorrow. Washington Irving (1783-1859) |
Idiom of the Day | |
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a feast for the eyes— An especially attractive, pleasing, and/or remarkable sight or visual experience. More... |
Today's Holiday | |
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Cambodia Victory Day (2023)This national holiday is also called Victory over Genocide Day and Nation Day. It marks the day in 1979 that Vietnamese troops entered Cambodia and began an assault that ended the bloody regime of the Khmer Rouge. It is estimated that as many as two million Cambodians were killed during the nearly four years that Pol Pot of the Khmer Rouge ruled the country. Victory Day is celebrated with patriotic speeches by government officials, remembrance services for the victims, as well as cultural displays of the era. More... |