Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, June 11, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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blithe
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| Article of the Day | |
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 Robben IslandRobben Island is a mile-wide island off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa. Stone-age people lived there thousands of years ago when sea levels were lower and the area was easily accessible. Starting in the late 17th century, the island was used to isolate lepers and, later, political prisoners such as Nelson Mandela, who was held there from 1964 to 1982. In the 1600s, a ship laden with millions of dollars worth of gold sank off the island's coast. Why has no one recovered the treasure? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Le Mans Disaster (1955)The legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race was created in 1923, when cars' top speeds hovered around 60 mph (97 km/h). Thirty years later, top speeds had more than tripled, with little change to the course. In the 1955 race, a narrow pass near the pit stop caused racer Pierre Levegh to hit another car from behind while traveling at about 150 mph (240 km/h). Levegh's Mercedes went airborne, and parts flew into the stands, killing Levegh and more than 80 spectators. Why did the race continue? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (1847)An English suffragist and social reformer, Fawcett rejected the violent acts of some of her contemporaries in the suffrage movement, believing that the enfranchisement of women could be achieved by peaceful means. Her efforts as president of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies from 1897 to 1919 are considered to have been instrumental in earning women over 30 in the UK the right to vote in 1918. Her older sister, Elizabeth, was the first woman licensed to do what in Britain? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 I hope that posterity will judge me kindly, not only as to the things which I have explained, but also to those which I have intentionally omitted so as to leave to others the pleasure of discovery.Rene Descartes (1596-1650) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Trinity Sunday (2017)Trinity Sunday is a day that celebrates the central dogma of Christian theology: that the One God exists as three persons with one substance—as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The idea of a festival in honor of the Trinity was first introduced by Stephen, bishop of Liège, Belgium, in the 10th century. But it wasn't until 1334 that it became a universal observance decreed by Pope John XXII. The day after Trinity is sometimes referred to as Trinity Monday. Tradition has it that St. Patrick of Ireland used a shamrock as a symbol of the "three-in-one," triune God. More... | |