Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, December 24, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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downswing
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| Article of the Day | |
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 Looted ArtFor millennia, artworks have been looted during times of war. By the time Alexander the Great invaded Egypt in 332 BCE, the tombs of almost all the Pharaohs had already been looted, and as recently as the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, thieves looted Baghdad's national museum. Much of the Louvre's collection was amassed through Napoleon's systematic plundering, an example the Nazis followed in WWII, looting an estimated 20% of the art in Europe. What happened to this art after Germany's defeat? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Christmas Island Discovered by Captain James Cook (1777)Though Captain James Cook was certainly not the first person to set foot on Christmas Island—the atoll had been visited by native Pacific Islanders in the past—it was uninhabited when he found it. Both the UK and US later laid claim to the atoll, and they vied for power there for the next 100 years or so, until it gained independence as part of the 33-island Republic of Kiribati and was renamed Kiritimati. Before it gained independence, the US and UK used the atoll as a testing ground for what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Kit Carson (1809)Carson was an American frontiersman, trapper, scout, Indian agent, and soldier. He ran away from home as a teen to join an expedition to the Southwest, embarking on a lifetime of adventure that earned him an almost mythical status in the annals of the American West. Much to his dismay, fictionalized versions of his daring exploits were published in a series of popular novels. He was haunted by the knowledge that a lady who had been kidnapped and killed had had such a book in her possession. Why? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Christmas Eve (Japan) (2020)In Buddhist Japan, Christmas Eve is for lovers. The day should be spent doing something extra special (expensive), and should end in a fine Tokyo hotel room, most of which have been booked since the previous January; even the cheapest rooms go for exorbitant prices. Youngsters may be treated to a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken—if their parents don't mind lining up for two hours—as many Japanese think Colonel Sanders resembles Santa Claus. Another culinary tradition is strawberry shortcake with a plastic fir tree on top. More... | |