Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, March 19, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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declination
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| Article of the Day | |
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 Antivenin: The AntidoteAntivenin is a biological material used to neutralize the venom of poisonous creatures like snakes, scorpions, spiders, and other insects. The antitoxins are created by injecting a small amount of venom into a serum-producing animal such as a horse, sheep, goat, or rabbit. The subject animal then suffers an immune response to the venom and produces antibodies which can be harvested from its blood and used to treat envenomation in others. What is mithridatism, and why is it so named? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Willie Mosconi Sinks 526 Consecutive Billiard Balls (1954)The son of a pool hall owner who tried to keep him from playing billiards, Mosconi learned the game by shooting with potatoes when his father hid the balls. A prodigy, he went on to win the world pool title 15 times before 1957. In 1954, he sank 526 consecutive balls in two hours and 10 minutes, and more than 35 witnesses signed an affidavit swearing to the feat. The record has never been broken. Mosconi was later hired to teach what actor how to convincingly play a pool hustler for a 1961 film? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 William Jennings Bryan (1860)Despite being a dominant force in the US Democratic Party, Bryan lost three bids for the presidency. However, he helped secure the presidential nomination for Woodrow Wilson, under whom he became secretary of state. Bryan's belief in neutrality led him to resign when it appeared that Wilson would enter the US into World War I. A devout Presbyterian, he later campaigned for Prohibition and, in 1925, died after exhausting himself prosecuting and finally winning what famous legal case? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 History fades into fable; fact becomes clouded with doubt and controversy; the inscription molders from the tablet; the statue falls from the pedestal. Columns, arches, pyramids, what are they but heaps of sand—and their epitaphs, but characters written in the dust?Washington Irving (1783-1859) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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Faustian bargain— An agreement, bargain, or deal in which a person sacrifices or abandons his or her moral, ethical, or spiritual values in favor of wealth, power, or other benefits. A reference to the legend of Faust, who sold his soul to the devil for unlimited knowledge and power. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Whale Festival (Fort Bragg, California) (2017)Gray whales spend their summers in the Bering Sea but migrate every year to the waters off the coast of Mexico, where females give birth to their young. Since the whales prefer to hug the coast as they make their long journey, they are often visible to those living in seaside towns. The neighboring northern California towns of Mendocino and Fort Bragg hold their whale festivals on consecutive weekends in March. Their celebrations include whale-watching cruises, wine tasting, seafood chowder tasting, nature walks, and visits to the Cabrillo Point lighthouse. More... | |
| In the News | |
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Why is NASA Playing with Fire in Space?In a few days, NASA will send a box into space and remotely light materials inside of it on fire to learn more about how zero gravity and limited oxygen affect flame size and spread of fire. The findings from the experiment, and a couple of others later this ... More... | |