Historical Events, Birthdays And Quotations

Mysterious Beast of Gévaudan Kills Its First Victim (1764)

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMT

From 1764 to 1767, the people of Gévaudan, France, reported dozens of sightings of a man-eating, wolf-like creature now known as the Beast of Gévaudan. According to many accounts, the beast—consistently described as having large teeth and an immense tail—killed some 100 people, prompting King Louis XV to send hunters to slay it. Some stories say a local hunter shot the beast, possibly with silver bullets. What mythical creature did some suggest was behind the attacks?

Sampoong Department Store Collapse (1995)

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMT

During the construction of what was to be an office building in Seoul, South Korea, owner Lee Joon decided to change course and make it a department store. Contractors who would not comply with his design modifications, which included removing some support columns in favor of escalators, were replaced. By April 1995, cracks were visible in the five-story structure. Two months later, in a span of only 20 seconds, the building collapsed with more than 1,500 people inside. How many of them died?

Mike Tyson Bites Off Part of Evander Holyfield's Ear (1997)

Sun, 28 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMT

Once a renowned heavyweight boxer, Tyson sought a comeback in 1995 after spending three years in prison following a rape conviction. His first fight with Holyfield in 1996 saw Holyfield, who was in the midst of a comeback of his own, defeat Tyson for the heavyweight title. Their 1997 rematch was temporarily halted when Tyson bit off a piece of Holyfield's ear—and permanently stopped when Tyson bit him again on the other ear and was disqualified. What reason did Tyson give for the infamous bite?

soldier

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMT

bombardier - First denoted a soldier in charge of a bombard, an early form of cannon. More...

functional shift - The process by which words change parts of speech without the addition of a prefix or suffix, as in soldier on, the verb, being created from soldier, the noun. More...

guerrilla, gorilla - Guerrilla is from a Spanish diminutive of guerra, "war," and refers to a soldier of an independent armed resistance force; gorilla is the ape. More...

military - Based on Latin miles, "soldier." More...

host

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMT

host - One of its early senses was "army." More...

harbinger - Originally, one who provided lodging or acted as a host. More...

table d' hote, prix fixe - Table d' hote, literally "table of the host," is a complete meal with specified courses for a set price—and means the same as prix fixe. More...

French leave - Comes from the French custom of leaving a ball or dinner without saying goodbye to the host or hostess. More...

tables

Sun, 28 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMT

waitron - A person, male or female, who waits on tables at a restaurant. More...

backgammon - Appears to literally mean "back game," and was first called tables; gammon is the ancestor of game. More...

busboy - A person who clears the dirty dishes from diners' tables, so called from his "bus" or trolley. More...

turn the tables - May come from backgammon, as the game itself was once called tables, and the two halves of the playing board are still called tables. More...

Florence Ballard (1943)

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMT

A founding member of The Supremes, Ballard sang on 16 Top 40 hit singles. She was first recruited by future members of The Temptations for a sister group they were forming. Ballard in turn recruited Mary Wilson, whom she had met at a talent show, and Wilson brought in Diana Ross. Disputes over Ballard's role in the trio led Motown Records to release her from the group in 1967, reportedly for "exhaustion." Her solo career failed, and she died in 1976 at age 32 as a result of what?

Ludwig August Theodor Beck (1880)

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMT

A German general, Beck saw the Nazis' rise to power as "the first ray of hope since 1918." However, he soon feared that Germany was not militarily prepared for an attack on Czechoslovakia. He voiced concern to Adolf Hitler directly, and, in 1938, he resigned in protest against the planned attack but was largely ignored. Beck then became a key member of the conspiracy to overthrow Hitler. What happened to Beck after his plan failed to kill Hitler with a bomb on July 20, 1944?

Alexis Carrel (1873)

Sun, 28 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMT

In 1894, French president Sadi Carnot died because surgeons could not reconnect his severed veins after a stabbing. The incident inspired Carrel, a French surgeon, to develop a suturing technique based on methods used by embroiderers. Known as triangulation, the technique is still used today. Carrel won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1912 for his work on sutures and organ transplants. He also developed the artificial heart with what American famous for non-medical work?

The Battle of Megiddo

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMT

The Battle of Megiddo was fought around 1468 BCE between Egyptian forces under the command of Pharaoh Thutmose III and a Canaanite coalition that was ultimately defeated. It is the first battle in history known to have been recorded in relatively reliable detail. Because of Megiddo's strategic location at the crossing of military and trade routes, it has since been the scene of many other battles. What concession did Thutmose require from each of the defeated Canaanite kings?

Richard Dadd

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMT

Dadd was an English painter of the Victorian era noted for his depictions of mythological and fairytale scenes rendered with obsessively minuscule detail. Most of his best-known works were created while he was incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital. In 1842, during an expedition to Egypt, Dadd underwent a dramatic personality change, becoming delusional and increasingly violent, and murdered his father upon his return. His actions are now thought to have been a result of what disorder?

Tapirs

Sun, 28 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMT

Found in the jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia, tapirs are large, nocturnal, herbivorous mammals with short, prehensile snouts. Though tapirs are somewhat piglike in appearance, they are not related to pigs. Their closest relatives are, in fact, odd-toed ungulates like horses and rhinoceroses. Tapirs that have access to a water source are known to spend a good deal of time swimming and even submerge underwater to feed and to allow fish to do what?

Mark Twain

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMT

Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMT

In our nature, however, there is a provision, alike marvelous and merciful, that the sufferer should never know the intensity of what he endures by its present torture, but chiefly by the pang that rankles after it.

Gilbert Chesterton

Sun, 28 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMT

The most incredible thing about miracles is that they happen.