Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, December 6, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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progeny
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| Article of the Day | |
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 The People's TempleThe People's Temple was a cult founded in 1955 by preacher Jim Jones. Though his congregation was known for helping the poor, Jones became the subject of criminal investigations and led 1,000 followers to Guyana in 1977, establishing the Jonestown commune there. In 1978, cult members killed US Representative Leo Ryan during an investigatory visit. The next day, 912 of Jones's followers died in a mass murder-suicide that involved cyanide-laced punch. Did anyone survive? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 13th Amendment to US Constitution is Ratified (1865)The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution completed the process of abolishing slavery, which had begun with Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Between February 1 and December 6 of 1865, the required three-fourths of the existing states—then 27 of 36—ratified the proposed amendment, making it law. Slavery offenses were still being prosecuted as recently as 1947. Which of the states that initially rejected the amendment finally ratified it in 2013, 147 years after it was adopted? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin (1805)Considered the father of modern conjuring, Houdin was a French magician after whom Harry Houdini named himself. Trained as a watchmaker, he was mechanically savvy and used this to his advantage in his act, employing mechanical devices and the newly discovered phenomenon of electromagnetism to create his illusions. Unlike magicians who relied on supernatural explanations for their feats, he openly attributed his magic to natural means. Why did the French government send him to Algeria in 1856? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size.Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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get knocked out cold— To be rendered unconscious, as by a physical blow, medication, or other means. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Finland Independence Day (2022)The Finnish people lived under Russian control beginning in 1809. The Finnish nationalist movement grew in the 1800s, and when the Bolsheviks took over Russia on November 7, 1917, the Finns saw a time to declare their independence. They did so on December 6 of that same year. This day is a national holiday celebrated with military parades in Helsinki and performances at the National Theater. It is traditionally a solemn occasion that begins with a parade of students carrying torches and one flag for each year of independence. More... | |