Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, April 7, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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| Article of the Day | |
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 WasabiWasabi is a member of the cabbage family that grows naturally along stream beds in mountain river valleys in Japan. Its root is used as a strong, mustard-hot spice that produces vapors that burn the sinus cavity rather than the tongue. Wasabi paste is often served with sushi and sashimi, but because true wasabi is so expensive, most American and Japanese sushi bars serve imitation wasabi made of what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific Opens on Broadway (1949)Based on James Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning book Tales of the South Pacific, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific opened on Broadway to great acclaim. Set on a Pacific island during WWII, the musical relates two parallel love stories that are threatened by prejudice and war. The play's first run earned 10 Tony Awards, and its 2008 Broadway revival earned seven. When it was awarded the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, who notoriously failed to receive credit for coauthoring it? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1890)A journalist and conservationist, Douglas lived to the age of 108. A turning point in her long life came in 1947, when her book, The Everglades: River of Grass was published. It sounded an early warning of the environmental perils facing the Florida Everglades. Everglades National Park was established that same year. Douglas cofounded Friends of the Everglades in 1969 and is widely credited with helping to slow the destruction of the swamp ecosystem. Where were her ashes scattered? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 In her face excuseCame prologue, and apology too prompt. John Milton (1608-1674) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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.jpg) Candle Auction (2015)The old custom of "selling by candle" is still observed in scattered locations throughout England, among them the village of Tatworth in Somerset. Every year on the Tuesday following April 6, six acres of valuable watercress-growing land are leased to the highest bidder. The bidders gather behind locked doors in a room illuminated only by a candle stuck to a board. A pin is inserted into the candle an inch below the flame; as the candle burns, the melting wax eventually releases the pin. The person who got the last bid in before the pin dropped will be able to use the land in the year to come. More... | |