Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, February 8, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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confection
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| Article of the Day | |
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 PhonofilmPhonofilm was an early system of synchronizing sound with film. It was used in the 1920s as one of the first methods for playing sound with movies, but it never caught on, particularly in the face of competing formats such as Vitaphone and Movietone. The Phonofilm system recorded photographic sound waves directly onto film—parallel to the picture—then translated them back into sound when the film was played. Thanks to Phonofilm, who became the first US president to appear in a non-silent film? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Champion Race Horse Abducted, Never to be Seen Again (1983)Two years after his record-setting win at the Epsom Derby, the acclaimed Irish racehorse Shergar was loaded into a trailer at gunpoint and abducted by a gang of masked men. At that time, the retired 1981 "European Horse of the Year" commanded a stud fee upwards of £50,000 and was thus extremely valuable. The horse's owners refused to pay the demanded ransom, and police were unable to find him. Shergar was never seen again. Who may have taken him, and what is believed to have been his fate? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876)Modersohn-Becker was a German painter who became an important early Expressionist despite her tragically short career. After studying in London and Paris, she helped introduce French Post-Impressionism into German art. She was greatly influenced by her stay at the artists' colony of Worpswede and later shifted from painting landscapes to portraits and still lifes, focusing on the expression of her feelings rather than a portrayal of reality. She died suddenly at 31, shortly after doing what? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Royal Hobart Regatta (2021)The Royal Hobart Regatta is an aquatic carnival that includes sailing, rowing, and swimming events, as well as fireworks and parades. It is a holiday in Tasmania, Australia, and is held on the Derwint River in early February during Australia's summer season. Hobart is the capital of Tasmania, Australia's southernmost state. A similar holiday in northern Tasmania is observed on the first Monday in November and is called Recreation Day. More... | |