Historical Events, Birthdays And Quotations

This Day in History

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Located in central East Africa, Tanzania has been inhabited by humans or their ancestors perhaps longer than any other place on Earth, with hominid fossils discovered there dating back over two million years. The country of Tanzania is a more recent development, forming in 1964 with the merger of two newly independent republics—Tanganyika and Zanzibar. The former leaders of Tanganyika and Zanzibar then became Tanzania's first president and vice president. What is Tanzania's official language? Discuss

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Written and composed by French army officer Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792, La Marseillaise was adopted in 1795 as France's first anthem. Although it was then banned by Napoleon I, Louis XVIII, and Napoleon III, it was restored as France's national anthem in 1879. The evocative lyrics and recognizable tune of La Marseillaise have led to its use as a revolutionary anthem and have inspired many pieces of classical music and pop culture. What are some examples?

Wed, 24 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

The Hubble Space Telescope is the most sophisticated optical observatory ever placed into orbit around Earth, able to view star material some 10 to 12 billion light years away. Because it is above Earth's obscuring atmosphere, it can obtain images that are much brighter, clearer, and more detailed than ground-based telescope images. Although a defect in the primary mirror initially caused it to produce fuzzy images, a 1993 shuttle mission fixed this. What are some of Hubble's most famous images?

Word Trivia

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

cost-effective - Anything effective and productive in relation to its cost. More...

fecund, fecundation - Fecund is another word for "fertile, fruitful, productive"; fecundation is another word for "fertilization, impregnation." More...

originary - An adjective meaning "causing existence; productive," or "primitive; primary; original." More...

teemful - Fruitful, productive, prolific. More...

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

dixit - An utterance. More...

affective - Describing the emotional meaning of an utterance. More...

curse - First an utterance of God or other deity. More...

preceding, previous - Preceding means "occurring immediately before the time of the utterance," while previous means "occurring at some time before the utterance." More...

Wed, 24 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

acokoinonia - Sex without passion or desire. More...

excandescence - The state of being glowing hot, anger or passion. More...

incense - Once meant to kindle any passion, good or bad. More...

wrangle - To wrangle can mean "to scream with passion." More...

Today's Birthdays

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Audubon was a US ornithologist and artist known for his drawings and paintings of North American birds. After failing in business, he concentrated on compiling his extraordinary four-volume Birds of America, published between 1827 and 1838. Though his bird poses are sometimes unrealistic—the result of painting dead birds wired into position—and some details are inaccurate, his studies were fundamental to New World ornithology. How many bird species are featured in Birds of America? Discuss

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

After winning an amateur contest at Harlem's Apollo Theater in 1934, Fitzgerald started singing with Chick Webb's big band and soon became its star. She recorded her first hit, "A Tisket-A Tasket," in 1938 and went on to become one of the best-selling vocal recording artists in history and a 14-time Grammy Award winner. In 1960, she made a famous live recording in which she improvised new lyrics to a song after forgetting the original ones. The performance earned her a Grammy. What song was it?

Wed, 24 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Born in the US and taken to the UK as a child, Joyce became involved with the fascist movement as a teen and fled to Germany before the outbreak of WWII. He remained there throughout the war, broadcasting Nazi propaganda in English from Berlin. He was captured by British soldiers in 1945 and, despite his American birth, was deemed subject to British jurisdiction because he held a British passport. He was convicted of treason and hanged. What urban legends about Joyce circulated during the war?

Article of the Day

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Despite being the last digit to come into use in the numerical system, the zero plays a central role in mathematics. During the 2nd century CE, Ptolemy began using a small circle with a long bar above it to symbolize zero. Because it was used alone, not just as a placeholder, this Hellenistic zero was perhaps the first documented use of a number zero in the Old World. Four centuries later, an Indian mathematician wrote a book of rules governing the use of the zero. Is zero an odd or even number? Discuss

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Sambo is a modern martial art and combat sport that was developed to enhance the military's hand-to-hand combat system in the former Soviet Union. In 1938, it was named the official sport of the USSR. Sambo combines a variety of wrestling styles with east Asian martial arts, boxing, and even fencing, from which it derives its parrying and lunging techniques. What does the combat style's name mean?

Wed, 24 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Buzkashi is a traditional Central Asian team sport in which players on horseback try to grab the carcass of a headless goat or calf and pitch it across a goal line or into a target circle or vat. Although it is known as a popular Afghani sport, Buzkashi began as a sport of the steppes, a vast, prairie-like ecoregion of Eurasia, and remains a popular game throughout the region. Games can last for several days, and competition is fierce. How is the animal carcass prepared before a game?

Quotations of the Day

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

The power of doing anything with quickness is always prized much by the possessor, and often without any attention to the imperfection of the performance. Discuss

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

As the viper, though it kills with it, does not deserve to be blamed for the poison it carries, as it is a gift of nature, neither do I deserve reproach for being beautiful.

Wed, 24 Apr 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Love is invisible, and comes in and goes out as he likes, without anyone calling him to account for what he does.