Daily Content Archive

Word of the Day
pinnace Definition: (noun) A light boat propelled by sails or oars, formerly used as a tender for merchant and war vessels. Synonyms: ship's boat, cutter, tender Usage: Seated upon the projection formed by the hull of the pinnace, I inhaled the salt breeze with delight.

Article of the Day

The Great Toronto Fire The Great Toronto Fire of 1904 began in a factory in downtown Toronto, the capital city of Ontario, Canada, and spread to more than 100 other buildings before it was extinguished. For nine hours, Toronto's firefighters—as well as firefighters from Hamilton, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York, that had come to help—braved strong winds and sub-zero temperatures as they fought to bring the blaze under control. What was the total estimated value of the property damaged by the fire? More...

This Day in History

Alcock and Brown Embark on First Nonstop Transatlantic Flight (1919) In 1918, the Daily Mail newspaper renewed its £10,000 prize for the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic. The next year, British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Brown claimed it after completing a treacherous 16-hour flight from Newfoundland to Ireland. Along the way, Brown had to repeatedly climb onto the wings of their biplane to remove ice, and snow filled the open cockpit. Upon reaching Ireland, they attempted to land in what they thought was a field, but it turned out to be what? More...

Today's Birthday

Margaret Bourke-White (1904) One of the original staff photographers at Time, Life, and Fortune magazines, Bourke-White was noted for her coverage of World War II. The first woman photographer to serve with US armed forces, she photographed the liberation of Buchenwald and was the only foreign correspondent in Moscow during the German invasion. Her pictures of the rural American South and her portraits of world leaders are also celebrated. What actress portrayed her in the movie Gandhi? More...

Quotation of the Day
Few serve truth in truth because only few have the pure will to be just, and of those again very few have the strength to be just. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

Idiom of the Day
great cry and little wool — A great deal of fuss, noise, fanfare, or protestation over something of little or no substance, importance, or relevance. More...

Today's Holiday

Connecticut Early Music Festival (2024) The term "early music" refers to music from the medieval, renaissance, baroque, and classical periods, up to and including Beethoven and Schubert, performed on period instruments. Since 1983, the residents of southeastern Connecticut have been able to hear early music performed on such unusual instruments as the slide trumpet, sackbut, viola da gamba, and the clavichord. The concerts are held in small rooms or churches so that the subtleties of the instruments can be heard—particularly the Noank Baptist Church in Noank and the Harkness Chapel at Connecticut College in New London. More...