Daily Content Archive

Word of the Day
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Article of the Day

Nüwa In Chinese mythology, Nüwa is a figure variously described as a creator deity or a repairer of heaven and Earth, especially after a calamity. Nüwa is said to have created mankind by fashioning individuals out of clay. When the process became too arduous, she began to simply flick bits of clay off the end of a rope. These differing methods of creation have been used to explain the distinction between nobles and commoners. How did Nüwa prevent the sky’s collapse after a pillar supporting it broke? More...

This Day in History

French Foreign Legion Founded (1831) The French Foreign Legion is a unit of the French Army largely composed of foreigners and commanded by French officers. It was created by King Louis Phillipe in 1831 to keep potential dissidents busy fighting for France rather than against it. Because enlistment historically required no official identification, many criminals joined under assumed names to hide their unsavory backgrounds. What are the two ways foreign-born legionnaires can earn the right to apply for French citizenship? More...

Today's Birthday

Pablo Martín Melitón de Sarasate y Navascués (1844) Sarasate was a Spanish violinist and composer. He began studying the violin with his bandmaster father at age five, and at his first public concert at age eight, he impressed a wealthy patron and was sent to study in Madrid. There, Queen Isabel II gave him the Stradivarius violin that he would play for the rest of his life. He made his Paris debut in 1860 and commenced touring the world. He wrote scores of brilliant virtuoso works, some of which are still played today. Where are his violins now? More...

Quotation of the Day
For our vanity is such that we hold our own characters immutable, and we are slow to acknowledge that they have changed, even for the better. E. M. Forster (1879-1970)

Idiom of the Day
many happy returns of the day — I wish you a very happy birthday and many more like it in the future. More...

Today's Holiday

Fairbanks Winter Carnival (2024) The Winter Carnival is a week of festivities in Fairbanks, Alaska, highlighted by sled dog races. The carnival opens with the two-day Limited North American Sled Dog Race, and concludes, on the last two days, with the Open North American Sled Dog Race. Other events include dances, a parka parade, a campstove chili contest, a native potlatch, snow- and ice-sculpting contests, snowshoe races and softball, musical and dramatic presentations, and a trade fair. More...