Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, May 18, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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fecund
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| Article of the Day | |
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 Towers of SilenceAccording to Zoroastrian tradition, a dead body is unclean and must be disposed of in a safe manner. To prevent the pollution of earth or fire, dead bodies are placed atop a tower, where they are exposed to the sun and birds of prey. The towers are circular raised structures with nearly flat roofs that are divided into three concentric rings; one ring is designated for the bodies of men, one for women, and one for children. Who coined the term "tower of silence"? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First Ascent of Lhotse (1956)Reaching 27,890 ft (8,501 m), Lhotse is the fourth highest mountain on Earth. Tibetan for "south peak," it is located in the Himalayas on the Nepal-Tibet border and is connected to Mount Everest by a 25,000-ft (7,620-m) ridge. The first ascent of the mountain was made by Swiss climbers Fritz Luchsinger and Ernest Reiss in 1956. Thirty years later, what mountaineer summited Lhotse, becoming the first climber to have ascended all 14 mountains on Earth that peak more than 8,000 m above sea level? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Walter Adolph Gropius (1883)Gropius was the immensely influential director of the Bauhaus school of art and architecture in Germany. In 1937, he immigrated to America and became head of Harvard's architecture department. He was an early exponent of the International style and believed that all design—whether of a chair, a building, or a city—should focus on the particular needs and problems involved, without regard to old styles. His 1923 re-design of what everyday object is now considered an icon of 20th-century design? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It is a melancholy truth that even great men have their poor relations.Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Toshogu Haru-No-Taisai (2020)This festival provides the most spectacular display of ancient samurai costumes and weaponry in Japan. The Toshogu Shrine, in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, was built in 1617 to house the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), the first of the Tokugawa shoguns. On the first day of the festival, dignitaries and members of the Tokugawa family make offerings to the deities of the shrine, and warriors on horseback shoot at targets with bows and arrows. The next morning, more than 1,000 people take part in the procession from Toshogu to Futarasan Shrine, including hundreds of samurai warriors. More... | |