Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, November 11, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
gaffe
| |||||||
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 San SerriffeOn April Fools' Day 1977, Britain's The Guardian newspaper reported on the curious—but fictional—island nation of San Serriffe. The article described two islands—Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse—inhabited by colonists known as "colons" and "semi-colons," who celebrate events such as the Festival of the Well-Made Play. Since the article predated personal computers, typography was not widely known, and plays on words like "sans serif" eluded many readers. What is San Serriffe's national bird? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Battle of Taranto (1940)The Battle of Taranto during World War II marked the first all-aircraft naval attack in history. The results were definitive, as British planes destroyed much of the Italian fleet anchored in Taranto, in an arm of the Ionian Sea. The battle is seen as a turning point in military history, marking the end of the reign of "big-gun" battleships and leading to the rise of naval air power. Certain aspects of the attack were studied as part of the planning for what other notorious aerial assault? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Daisy Lee Gatson Bates (1914)Bates was a key figure in the integration of public schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. The publisher of a newspaper, Bates began publicizing civil rights issues in the early 1940s. In 1957, when the Little Rock School Board chose nine black students to integrate the local high school, Bates organized the group's activities amid mob violence so intense that the students could only enter the school under military guard. On what national holiday is Daisy Gatson Bates Day observed in Arkansas? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Never lose a chance of saying a kind word.William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
a good scout— An honest, affable, reliable, and trustworthy person. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Concordia Day (2022)A public holiday on the island of St. Martin in the West Indies, Concordia Day commemorates the 1648 agreement to divide the island between the Dutch and the French. To this day, St. Martin is the smallest territory shared by two sovereign states, with only a stone monument marking the boundary. Concordia Day celebrates the long-standing peaceful coexistence of the two countries by holding parades and a joint ceremony with French and Dutch officials at the border monument. November 11 is also the anniversary of the island's discovery in 1493 by Christopher Columbus. More... | |