Daily Content Archive

Word of the Day
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Article of the Day

Clay Animation Clay animation is a form of stop-motion animation in which each frame of a film is created and photographed independently using clay figures molded into different positions for each frame. Clay animated films were made in the US as early as 1908 and became something of a fad in 1916, but they were soon overtaken by cartoons. Clay animation is a laborious process, requiring about 21,600 stops for a 30-minute film. How many frames per second are needed to create the illusion of continuous motion? More...

This Day in History

General Mills Introduces Cheerios as CheeriOats (1941) General Mills introduced its oat-based, ready-to-eat cold cereal as CheeriOats but, in 1946, changed its name to Cheerios because of a trademark dispute with Quaker Oats. Today, it comes in nearly a dozen different flavors and is marketed to children as well as adults. It has used several different characters in its advertising over the years, including Charlie Brown from Peanuts. Why did the US Food and Drug Administration call Cheerios an "unapproved new drug" in 2009? More...

Today's Birthday

Joseph Heller (1923) As a bombardier with the US Air Force during World War II, American writer Joseph Heller flew 60 combat missions. He drew on his wartime experiences when writing his darkly humorous novel Catch-22 (1961), a satiric commentary on the absurdity of war and bureaucracy. One of the most significant works of postwar protest literature, it was a huge critical success. What did Heller famously reply when asked why he had not written anything else as good as Catch-22? More...

Quotation of the Day
Life wouldn't be worth living if I worried over the future as well as the present. W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)

Idiom of the Day
no pressure — Said ironically to emphasize that what is being discussed carries a large amount of importance or makes one feel that one must try very hard to succeed. More...

Today's Holiday

Feast of St. Joseph the Worker (Worker's Day) (2025) This public holiday in Malta is celebrated with festivities throughout the country. In Valletta, a highlight of the mass conducted by the archbishop in St. John's Cathedral is the blessing of the tools and products of laborers and craftsmen. St. Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary, was a carpenter who taught Jesus his craft. He is the patron saint of workers, laborers, carpenters, cabinetmakers, and joiners. In 1955, Pope Pius XII established the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1 as a counter-celebration to the Communists' May Day celebrations honoring workers. More...