Daily Content Archive

Word of the Day
bolide Definition: (noun) An especially luminous meteor (sometimes exploding). Synonyms: fireball Usage: Nancy stared in awe through her telescope as a bolide rocketed into her view, shining brightly in the night sky.

Article of the Day

The Crinoline Crinoline is a stiff fabric made with cotton warp and horsehair. By the 1850s, the term was being applied to a large, steel-framed underskirt used to give skirts a fuller shape. This sort of crinoline enjoyed widespread popularity for over a decade despite the fact that it could endanger one’s life. It is believed that a number of women burned to death in part because their crinolines made their garments more flammable. How, according to legend, did a crinoline save the life of one jilted lover? More...

This Day in History

Boston Red Sox Sell Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees (1919) Between 1914 and 1919, Ruth compiled an outstanding pitching record, but because pitchers do not play in every game, he was shifted to the outfield so that his powerful hitting could be used consistently. The following season, he was sold to the New York Yankees, and his batting feats and public personality helped salvage baseball's popularity, which had been damaged by the Black Sox scandal. According to legend, Ruth was sold by the owner of the Red Sox in order to finance what? More...

Today's Birthday

George Dewey (1837) Dewey was an American admiral and a hero of the Battle of Manila. He graduated from the US Naval Academy and served with Union naval forces in the American Civil War. In the Spanish-American War (1898), his Asiatic Squadron sailed to the Philippines and defeated the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay, destroying eight Spanish ships in six hours and suffering only one American fatality. His victory led to the US acquisition of the Philippines. What rank did Congress create for him in 1899? More...

Quotation of the Day
Though home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit answered to, in strongest conjuration. Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

Idiom of the Day
long pig — obsolete Human flesh when eaten as food by cannibals. More...

Today's Holiday

Kwanzaa (2020) Kwanzaa is an African-American celebration of family and black culture. Each day is dedicated to one of seven principles: umoja (unity), kujichagulia (self-determination), ujima (collective work and responsibility), ujamaa (cooperative economics), nia (purpose), kuumba (creativity), and imani (faith). Families gather in the evenings to discuss the principle of the day, and then light a black, red, or green candle and place it in a candleholder called a kinara. On the evening of Dec. 31, families join for a feast called the karamu. More...