Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, December 9, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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inexpugnable
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| Article of the Day | |
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_-_Clovis_roi_des_Francs_(465-511).jpg) Clovis ITraditionally regarded as the founder of the French monarchy, Clovis was born in the 5th century to a Frankish tribal leader. He became the sole ruler of the Salian Franks by force of perseverance—and by murdering a number of relatives. He defeated the last Roman ruler of Gaul, united the Frankish tribes to become ruler of their entire kingdom, made Paris his base of operations, and extended his realm into Germany. What experience supposedly influenced him to convert to Christianity? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Eradication of Smallpox Is Certified (1979)One of the deadliest diseases in history by sheer loss of life, smallpox was the target of a concerted, worldwide eradication campaign in the 20th century, and it became the first disease to have been successfully wiped out. Efforts focused on vaccination and quickly responding to and curtailing outbreaks. The last person to die from smallpox caught it at a laboratory, where samples of the now-vanquished disease remain. Who is the last person known to have contracted it in the wild? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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.jpg) Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717)The son of a German cobbler, Winckelmann overcame years of hardship to pursue his love of ancient Greek art, becoming a renowned scholar and one of the founders of scientific archaeology and art history. He spent much of his later life studying in the vast Vatican Library, and his writings reawakened the popular taste for Classical art and helped spur the Neoclassical movement. In 1768, a fellow traveler—who did not know who Winckelmann was—murdered him at a hotel, ostensibly for what reason? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Pyrrhus, when his friends congratulated to him his victory over the Romans under Fabricius, but with great slaughter of his own side, said to them again, "Yes; but if we have such another victory, we are undone."Francis Bacon (1561-1626) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Tanzania Independence Day (2020)Tanzania Independence Day is a celebration of independence from the British in 1961 of Tanganyika, which merged with Zanzibar in 1964 to become Tanzania. The day is a national holiday celebrated with parades, youth leagues marching before the president at the stadium in Dar es Salaam, school games, cultural dances, and aerobatics by the air force. More... | |