Daily Content Archive

Word of the Day
aver Definition: (verb) To assert formally as a fact. Synonyms: allege, say Usage: For as my conscience does not accuse me, I aver that I am not a criminal.

Article of the Day

U Thant Burmese diplomat U Thant served as UN Secretary-General for ten years. During his first term of service, he played a major role in defusing the Cuban Missile Crisis and ending the civil war in the Congo. He was elected to a second term in 1966, but had less success in dealing with the major crises of this later period, which included the Vietnam War and the Six Day War. On the day of U Thant's funeral, a group of students stole his coffin. What short-lived crisis did their actions spark? More...

This Day in History

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice First Published (1813) Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice while living at "Steventon," her father's Hampshire vicarage where she spent the first 25 years of her life. However, the book was not published until much later—in 1813, four years before her death. Like Austen's other novels, Pride and Prejudice is a comedy of manners that depicts the self-contained world of provincial ladies and gentlemen. In 2003, the novel placed second in a BBC poll for the "UK's Best-Loved Book." What book came first? More...

Today's Birthday

Arthur Rubinstein (1887) Rubinstein was a Polish-American pianist whose enormous popularity spanned many decades. He debuted in 1900 and performed with moderate success until the 1930s, when he stopped performing for five years to improve his technique and reemerged as a giant of 20th-century music, active into his 80s. In the US, he was equally noted as soloist and chamber musician. His repertoire ranged from Bach to 20th-century Spanish composers, but he was particularly noted for his interpretation of what composer? More...

Quotation of the Day
It is so pleasant to come across people more stupid than ourselves. We love them at once for being so. Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927)

Idiom of the Day
lubrication payment — A small sum of money or other gifts or services to be paid or given to government officials to expedite business operations in countries that do not prohibit such activity. More...

Today's Holiday

St. Charlemagne's Day (2025) Charlemagne wasn't actually a saint at all; he was an emperor and the first ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, crowned in 800 by Pope Leo III. Although he was never able to read and write himself, Charlemagne, whose name means "Charles the Great," founded the University of Paris. In fact, his reign was marked by a huge cultural revival, including significant advances in scholarship, literature, and philosophy. He died on January 28, 814. More...