| In the News |  |
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 $3 Billion Sunken Treasure to Surface SoonTreasure hunters claim to have located a WWII-era shipwreck laden with 71 tons of platinum—valued at more than $3 billion today—as well as gold bullion and diamonds. The ship, identified by its hull number as the SS Port Nicholson, was carrying a lend-lease payment from the Soviet Union to the US when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the US Atlantic coast in 1942. Though the treasure has not yet been retrieved, underwater footage shows metal bars and crates that appear to be the platinum cargo listed in a US Treasury Department ledger. The group hopes to begin salvage efforts later this month. More on the subject... |
| Article of the Day |  |
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During the trial of Marie Madeleine d'Aubray, marquise de Brinvilliers, who stood accused of conspiring to poison her relatives to secure the family fortune, it was revealed that such poisons, or "inheritance powders," could be readily bought from Parisian fortune-tellers and alchemists. The news terrified high society, especially the king's court. An investigation was launched, and a hysterical period ensued during which how many people were executed for poison conspiracies? More... |
| This Day in History |  |
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Relations between Italy and the US were strained in 1998 when a US military plane, flying too low and too fast through a valley near the Italian town of Cavalese, clipped an aerial tramway cable. The cable car fell, killing all 20 people on board. The pilot and navigator were acquitted of homicide in a US military court, sparking outrage in Italy, but were later convicted of obstruction of justice for destroying a video of the incident. How did the US attempt to repair relations with Italy? More... |
| Today's Birthday |  |
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Rockwell was an American illustrator whose idealized scenes of family life in small-town America gained enormous popularity with the public. His illustrations appeared in major periodicals such as Collier's and Life. From 1916 to 1963, he produced 317 covers for The Saturday Evening Post, and during WWII his patriotic posters were distributed by the government. What unusually serious subject did the sentimental illustrator cover for Look magazine later in his career? More... |
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| Definition: | (adjective) Insane and believed to be affected by the phases of the moon. | | Synonyms: | lunatic | | Usage: | You are the first Avonlea girl who has ever gone to college; and you know that all pioneers are considered to be afflicted with moonstruck madness. |
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| Quotation of the Day |  |
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With Women, we speak of "love", "duty", "right", "wrong", "pity", "hope", and other irrational and emotional conceptions, which have no existence, and the fiction of which has no object except to control feminine exuberances.Edwin Abbott (1838-1926) |
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