Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, February 19, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
fervency
| |||||||
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Father of the DeafCharles-Michel de l'Épée was born to a wealthy French family in 1712. He trained to be a Catholic priest but was denied ordination and went on to study law before returning to the Church. A chance encounter with two deaf sisters who communicated using a signed language inspired Épée to dedicate himself to the education and salvation of the deaf. In the 1750s, he founded a shelter that eventually became the world's first free school for the deaf. What are some criticisms of his signing system? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Former US Vice President Aaron Burr Arrested for Treason (1807)Nearly three years after killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel, former US Vice President Aaron Burr was arrested on unrelated charges of treason. Though the exact details of his plan were a mystery even then, he was accused of plotting to establish an independent country of his own, possibly in the American Southwest. He was treated well while imprisoned at Fort Stoddert and was eventually acquitted, but his political career was destroyed. Which of his co-conspirators turned on him? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 André Breton (1896)Breton was a French writer, critic, and editor. In 1919, he helped found the Dadaist review Littérature. Influenced by psychiatry and the Symbolist movement, he wrote poetry using the automatic-writing technique. In 1924, his Manifeste du surréalisme—Surrealist Manifesto—provided a definition of Surrealism as "pure psychic automatism." In 1938, he founded the Fédération de l'Art Revolutionnaire Indépendant in Mexico with what one-time commander of the Red Army? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Birth, n.: The first and direst of all disasters.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin (2021)On February 19, 1942, Japanese bomber and fighter planes conducted a devastating air raid on the town of Darwin, the capital city of Australia's Northern Territory. As a tribute to honor the dead and those who defended Darwin, an annual commemoration is held in Bicentennial Park by the Cenotaph, a monument to those slain in World War I. At 9:58, the exact time the attack began, a World War II air raid siren sounds. During some observances, Australian regiments will reenact the attack: ground units fire their guns, and fighter planes perform fly-bys over the memorial site. More... | |