Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, November 30, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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hireling
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| Article of the Day | |
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 Davy Jones's LockerDavy Jones's Locker is a euphemism for death at sea and refers to the bottom of the ocean, where drowned sailors lie. Many theories exist as to where the name “Davy Jones” stems from, but while its origins are unclear, its meaning is not; sailors use the term when referring to the devil of the sea. Jones was described by one 18th century author as having 3 rows of teeth, horns, a tail, and blue smoke coming from his nostrils. How was he portrayed in the 2006 film Pirates of the Caribbean? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Battle of Narva (1700)Sweden's power and influence in the Baltic region was growing when the young and inexperienced Charles XII came to the throne in 1697. Seeing their chance to end Swedish domination of the area, Charles's neighbors—Peter I of Russia, Frederick IV of Denmark, and Augustus II of Poland—formed an alliance and attacked. At Narva, the first major battle of the Great Northern War, Charles's army soundly defeated the superior Russian forces. A few years later, Peter returned to Narva. What happened? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Jonathan Swift (1667)Known as one of the greatest satirists in the English language, Swift was an ordained Anglican priest who devoted himself to exposing England's unfair treatment of his native Ireland. In his ironic 1729 tract "A Modest Proposal," he suggested that the Irish escape poverty by selling their children to by eaten by the English. His classic Gulliver's Travels is a ruthless satire of human follies. Swift once mocked a publisher of astrological predictions by making what prediction of his own? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart.Washington Irving (1783-1859) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Bonn Om Tuk (Festival of the Reversing Current) (2020)The Festival of the Reversing Current is a festival and national holiday to celebrate a natural phenomenon in Cambodia. Tonlé Sap, a lake, is connected to the Mekong River by the Tonle Sap River, which normally flows south from the lake. But during the rainy season, the flood-swollen Mekong backs up and flows backward through the Tonle Sap River into the lake. The normal southward flow returns when the dry season starts. The festival, held at the time when the Tonle Sap returns to its normal direction, is a time of fireworks, merrymaking, and races of pirogues, or long canoes, at Phnom Penh. More... | |