Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, July 19, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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sallow
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| Article of the Day | |
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 TasseographyTasseography is a fortune-telling method whose practitioners aim to interpret patterns in tea leaves, coffee grounds, or wine sediments. The practice of tea leaf reading originated independently in Asia, the Middle East, and ancient Greece. Today, potteries even produce cups specially marked for the reading of tea leaves, including those with zodiac designs, playing cards, and other symbols. In what country was a coffee-reading fortuneteller charged with the crime of practicing magic in 2007? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Syngman Rhee, First President of South Korea, Dies in Exile (1965)Born in Korea shortly before it was occupied by Japan, Rhee was condemned to life in prison in 1897 for anti-Japanese activity. Amnestied and released in 1904, he went on to become the first Korean to earn a doctorate from a US university. In 1919, he was elected president of a provisional government in exile. Following WWII, he was elected the first president of Korea, with US backing. Ruling as an anti-Communist dictator, Rhee went to war against North Korea in 1950. Why did he resign in 1960? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Rosalyn Yalow (1921)Yalow was a medical physicist who developed the technique of radioimmunoassay (RIA)—a simple way to measure tiny concentrations of substances such as hormones, enzymes, or drugs in blood or other bodily fluids. She originally applied RIA to study blood insulin levels in diabetes mellitus, but the method soon found hundreds of other applications. For these discoveries, she shared the 1977 Nobel Prize in medicine, becoming only the second woman to win the award in this field. Who was the first? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 There is a good deal of satisfaction about being thoroughly miserable; but nobody likes a fit of the blues.Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Kinderzeche (2018)Kinderzeche is a festival in Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria, Germany, to honor the children who saved the town during the Thirty Years' War of 1618-48. In 1632, according to legend, as Swedish troops rode into town, a small band of children appeared before the commander and asked for his mercy. The commander's heart softened, and he spared the town. The celebration today is a reenactment of the event, with participants in costumes of 17th-century town councilors and soldiers. Highlights of the festival include the parade of the Dinkelsbühl Boys' Band and a performance of a sword dance. More... | |