Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, November 4, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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condescension
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| Article of the Day | |
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 BombaThe bomba kryptologiczna—Polish for "cryptologic bomb"—was a machine designed in 1938 by mathematician and Polish Cipher Bureau cryptologist Marian Rejewski to break German Enigma machine ciphers. Shortly before Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Rejewski and his colleagues shared their findings on Enigma decryption with the French and British. The intelligence gathered as a result contributed, perhaps decisively, to the defeat of Nazi Germany. How did the machine come to be called a "bomb"? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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.jpg) "Genie" the Feral Child Discovered by California Authorities (1970)One of the worst known cases of child abuse and social isolation in American history is that of "Genie," a girl forced to spend the first 13 years of her life alone in her bedroom, most of the time strapped to a potty chair. She was never spoken to and was apparently beaten if she attempted to speak. By the time she was discovered by authorities, she was nearly mute—her vocabulary consisted of about 20 words and a few short phrases. What did experts hope to learn by studying Genie? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Walter Cronkite (1916)"Uncle Walter" served as CBS Evening News anchor from 1962 to 1981, during which time viewer opinion polls found him to be the "most trusted man in America." He reported the newsworthy events of the era so effectively that his image and voice have become closely associated with the Vietnam War, the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and the Watergate scandal. Cronkite experienced a rare loss of composure during one 1963 broadcast when he found himself announcing what event? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 I have made a plan for my life, as I am in my teens, and no more a child.Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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brain box— Someone who is regarded as highly intelligent. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Mischief Night (2022)The idea of letting children have a "lawless night" originated in England, and was often celebrated on May Day Eve (April 30) or on Halloween. But in the mid-17th century, when Guy Fawkes Day (November 5) became a national holiday, Guy Fawkes Eve became the most popular night for mischief in England, Australia, and New Zealand, where it is sometimes called Mischievous Night or Danger Night. More... | |