Daily Content Archive

Word of the Day
anathema Definition: (noun) A person or thing detested or loathed. Synonyms: bete noire Usage: Because of what he did to Sam, he is anathema to me now.

Article of the Day

Binaural Beats When two tones at slightly different frequencies are played separately and heard through stereo headphones or speakers, the brain perceives a third sound: a binaural beat. Though discovered by German scientist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove in 1839, the phenomenon was largely ignored until the 1970s. The beats are now a source of interest for some who think they have the potential to induce relaxation and increase memory and learning ability. How are binaural beats related to the "cocktail party effect"? More...

This Day in History

Downed US Air Force Pilot Rescued in Bosnia (1995) On June 2, 1995, US Air Force pilot Scott O'Grady was enforcing a NATO no-fly zone over Bosnia when his F-16 was hit by a surface-to-air missile. He ejected and, for the next six days, survived in the wilderness by eating leaves and ants. During that time, he avoided capture by Serb patrols and made contact with US forces. The Marines then mounted a daring rescue and brought him home. The 2001 film Behind Enemy Lines is loosely based on O'Grady's ordeal. Why did he sue the filmmakers? More...

Today's Birthday

Francis Harry Compton Crick (1916) While working in a research lab at Cambridge after WWII, Crick helped discover the molecular structure of DNA. It was one of the most important scientific findings of the century, and he shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work. He also clarified how cells use DNA to build proteins. During WWII, he was deflected from his original course of research after a bomb hit his lab. Crick later said he had been studying "the dullest problem imaginable" at the time. What was it? More...

Quotation of the Day
There is nothing so degrading as the constant anxiety about one's means of livelihood. W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)

Idiom of the Day
money pit — A business, possession, or other financial commitment that requires or consumes an increasingly large amount of money, especially more than was first anticipated. More...

Today's Holiday

St. Médardus's Day (2025) St. Médardus, or Médard, who lived from about 470 to 560 CE, was the bishop of Vermandois, Noyon, and Tournai in France. Because he was the patron saint of farmers and good weather, he has come to play a role in weather lore similar to that of the English St. Swithin. In Belgium he is known as the rain saint, and there is an old folk rhyme that says, "If it rains on St. Médard's Day, it will rain for 40 days." More...