Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, October 25, 2021)Word of the Day | |||||||
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resolute
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Article of the Day | |
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The MbiraThe mbira, or thumb piano, is an African musical instrument that dates to at least the 16th century. Originally brought to Latin America by African slaves, it is made of a hollow gourd or wooden resonator and has several attached metal or bamboo strips that vibrate when plucked by the player's thumbs or fingers. Some cultures, such as the Shona people of Zimbabwe, use mbira music to communicate with ancestral spirits. What objects are often placed on the soundboard to create a buzzing sound? 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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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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My kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's country, not to its institutions or its office-holders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out. Mark Twain (1835-1910) |
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... |