Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, June 5, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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introverted
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| Article of the Day | |
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 Casu MarzuA traditional Sardinian delicacy, casu marzu is pecorino cheese that has been intentionally infested with live cheese fly larvae. The cheese itself is soft, having been partially decomposed by the larvae. It is readily available on the black market in Sardinia, where it is considered an aphrodisiac and served with red wine. Some choose to cover casu marzu with one hand while eating it, as the larvae can leap up to 6 in (15 cm). Resistant to human stomach acids, the larvae can do what when eaten? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 US Secretary of State George Marshall Announces the Marshall Plan (1947)World War II left the finances and industry of Europe crippled. In 1947, Marshall proposed a plan for the US to finance the European recovery. From 1948 to 1952, it provided almost $13 billion in grants and loans to 17 countries and was a key factor in reviving their economies and stabilizing their political structures. While most of Europe embraced the plan, it was strongly opposed by the Soviet Union and some Eastern European nations. How, according to Marshall, would this plan benefit the US? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 John Couch Adams (1819)Before the planet Neptune was discovered, Adams—an English astronomer and mathematician—correctly predicted its existence and position based on irregularities in the motion of Uranus. However, the credit for the discovery went to Urbain Leverrier, who had come to the same conclusion later but published his findings earlier. In 1846, the planet was first observed by a German astronomer using Leverrier's calculations. A modest man, Adams also declined to publish what other findings? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 What is a novel if not a conviction of our fellow-men's existence strong enough to take upon itself a form of imagined life clearer than reality and whose accumulated verisimilitude of selected episodes puts to shame the pride of documentary history.Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Ramayana Ballet (2020)The most spectacular dance-drama on the island of Java, Indonesia, is held on an open-air stage at the Prambanan Temple near Yogyakarta. The ballet is a contemporary abbreviated version of the Hindu epic, the Ramayana, unfolding over the four nights to tell the story of Prince Rama banished from his country to wander for years in the wilderness. More than 100 dancers and players in gamelans (percussive orchestras) present spectacles of monkey armies, giants on stilts, and clashing battles. The rich carvings of the Prambanan temple complex in the background are spotlighted by the moon. More... | |