Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, June 13, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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buttery
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| Article of the Day | |
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 The Birdman of Easter IslandTangata Manu, or "Birdman," was the title given to the winner of an annual ritual competition practiced by Easter Island natives up until Christian missionaries suppressed it in the 1860s. The object of the contest was the retrieval of the first sooty tern egg of the season from the cliffs of a rocky islet off the coast of the main island. The winner's clan received the right to collect that season's harvest of wild bird eggs, while the Birdman himself was afforded what privileges? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 US Supreme Court Rules in Miranda v. Arizona (1966)Miranda v. Arizona was a landmark US Supreme Court decision that led to the institution of the Miranda warning, a set of rights that police officers must read to arrestees. One of the petitioners in the case, Ernesto Miranda, had been convicted of rape in 1963 based on a confession he made while in police custody—without knowing he had a right to see a lawyer. He appealed, and the Supreme Court ruled in his favor. What happened when he was retried using evidence other than his confession? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Sir Basil Rathbone (1892)Rathbone was a British actor who made his film debut in the 1920s. With his distinctive voice and gaunt appearance, he was cast as a villain in several swashbuckling movies. He won praise for his roles in Romeo and Juliet and If I Were King, but he became best known for portraying Sherlock Holmes in a series of films beginning with 1939's The Hound of the Baskervilles. Why did his English family have to flee South Africa when he was just three years old? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 I desire no future that will break the ties of the past.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Gaspee Days (2020)The British revenue schooner Gaspee was sent to the American colonies to reinforce various British revenue laws, including the Townshend Acts of 1767. The colonists at Rhode Island burned the ship on June 10, 1772, in what many regard as the first act of rebellion leading up to the Revolutionary War. Since 1966 the event has been commemorated in a festival that includes a symbolic reenactment of the burning, a fife and drum muster, a colonial parade, numerous athletic events, and a gala ball, which take place in both Cranston and Warwick, Rhode Island. More... | |