Daily Content Archive

Word of the Day
gustation Definition: (noun) The faculty of distinguishing sweet, sour, bitter, and salty properties in the mouth. Synonyms: taste Usage: Her cold had muted all sense of gustation, and she had no appetite for food.

Article of the Day

Bloodletting Bloodletting is one of the oldest medical techniques, practiced from antiquity through the 18th century. It involves the withdrawal of considerable quantities of blood from a patient, and practitioners believe it can cure or prevent a number of illnesses and diseases. Numerous bloodletting methods have been employed over the centuries, including drawing blood directly from large veins, puncturing arteries, and even using leeches. A form of bloodletting is still used today to treat what diseases? More...

This Day in History

Topsy the Elephant is Executed by Electrocution (1903) Topsy was a circus elephant at Coney Island's Luna Park. After killing three people—at least one of whom was mistreating her at the time—in as many years, she was deemed a threat and scheduled to be put down. After hanging was ruled out after being deemed too cruel, Thomas Edison suggested electrocution in an attempt to further his campaign to portray alternating current electricity as dangerous. Electrocuted with 6,600 volts, Topsy died in seconds. How many people witnessed the execution? More...

Today's Birthday

Jakob Ludwig Carl Grimm (1785) More than just a compiler of fairy tales, Jacob Grimm was a German philologist who formulated the linguistic principle known as Grimm's law and who, along with his brother Wilhelm, began work on a vast historical dictionary of the German language that took over a century to complete. The Brothers Grimm are best known, however, for their compilation of some 200 German folk tales, known as Grimm's Fairy Tales, that helped establish the science of folklore. How did they collect the stories? More...

Quotation of the Day
The happiest women, like the happiest nations, have no history. George Eliot (1819-1880)

Idiom of the Day
look (someone) off — In sports, especially American football, to mislead an opponent with one's eyes as to one's intentions in a given play. More...

Today's Holiday

Carnival of Blacks and Whites (2025) The Carnival of Blacks and Whites, held each year in Pasto, Colombia, is one of the oldest Carnival celebrations in South America. The Carnival officially opens on January 4 with a parade commemorating the arrival in Pasto of the Castañeda family, who are presented as a zany group overburdened with luggage, mattresses, and cooking equipment. The following day is the Day of the Blacks. Using special paints and cosmetics, revelers paint themselves and their friends black. Festivities continue on January 6 with the Day of the Whites, in which white paints and cosmetics are used. More...