Daily Content Archive

Word of the Day
squalor Definition: (noun) A filthy and wretched condition or quality. Synonyms: sordidness, squalidness Usage: The squalor in which the refugees lived alarmed the aid workers, who knew they had to work quickly to improve these conditions.

Article of the Day

The Atom Though atoms are a fundamental building block of matter, scientific understanding of them is relatively recent. Ernest Rutherford developed the first coherent explanation of the atom's structure in 1911 and showed that it consists of a positively charged core—the nucleus—orbited by negatively charged particles—electrons. However, classical theory held that electrons are continuously being accelerated. By Rutherford's theory, then, electrons would spiral into the nucleus. Who solved this issue? More...

This Day in History

Liliuokalani Becomes Hawaii's Last Monarch (1891) Liliuokalani ascended the throne in 1891 upon the death of her brother, King Kalakaua. Her refusal to recognize the constitutional changes inaugurated in 1887 precipitated a revolt, fostered largely by sugar planters—mostly American residents of Hawaii—that led to her dethronement early in 1893 and the establishment of a provisional government. Failing in an attempt to regain the throne in 1895, she formally renounced her royal claims. What well-known song was composed by Liliuokalani? More...

Today's Birthday

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688) Swedenborg was a Swedish scientist, theologian, and mystic. He studied almost every field of scientific investigation and wrote copiously, publishing Sweden's first scientific journal and anticipating many discoveries and inventions. However, his writing gradually shifted toward philosophy and metaphysics. In 1744, he claimed to have had a divine vision. He spent the rest of his career interpreting the Bible and relating what he had seen in his visions, and he called himself a servant of whom? More...

Quotation of the Day
It is essential to the idea of a law, that it be attended with a sanction; or, in other words, a penalty or punishment for disobedience. Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804)

Idiom of the Day
luck in — To be very lucky or fortunate; to experience particularly good luck. (A nonstandard variant of "luck out.") More...

Today's Holiday

Thomas Paine Day (2024) Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was a propagandist and humanitarian whose influential pamphlet, Common Sense, is credited with persuading the American colonies to declare their independence from Great Britain. On January 29, Paine's birthday, he is honored by members of the Thomas Paine National Historical Association in New Rochelle, New York. They lay a wreath at his monument in the Thomas Paine Memorial Museum, which houses some of his letters and personal effects. The cottage in which Paine lived is only a short walk away. More...