Daily Content Archive

Word of the Day
canorous Definition: (adjective) Richly melodious. Synonyms: songful Usage: When I sing in the shower, my off-key caterwauling takes on a surprisingly canorous tone.

Article of the Day

Nemesis In 1984, paleontologists David Raup and Jack Sepkoski posited that mass extinction events are cyclical, happening about every 26 million years, and are often caused by large impact events—such as the asteroid that may have led to the end of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Some astronomers sought to explain the theory with Nemesis, a hypothetical companion star to the Sun about 1.5 light-years away. According to the hypothesis, how was Nemesis responsible for these extinction events? More...

This Day in History

The Swiss Confederation Is Formed (1291) Despite its ethnic and religious diversity, Switzerland has maintained one of the world's oldest democracies for more than 700 years. Concerned about the encroaching Habsburg Empire, the three mountain communes of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden formed a defensive league in 1291, laying the foundations of the Swiss Confederation. Today, Switzerland is well known for its neutrality and reluctance to join the European Union. In 2002, it became one of the last nations to do what? More...

Today's Birthday

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (10 BCE) The nephew of Tiberius, Claudius became the Roman emperor unexpectedly, after Caligula was murdered. Sickly, unattractive, and scholarly, he tended to disfavor the upper classes and cater to the freedmen. He expanded the frontiers, invading Britain in 43 CE. He spent lavishly on public works and extended Roman citizenship throughout the empire. Having executed his scheming third wife, he married his niece, who then likely poisoned him. What modern diagnoses might explain his lifelong ill health? More...

Quotation of the Day
If you would taste love, drink of the pure stream that youth pours out at your feet. Do not wait till it has become a muddy river before you stoop to catch its waves. Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927)

Idiom of the Day
poetry in motion — Something that is very elegant, graceful, and/or beautiful to observe, especially dance or the performing arts. More...

Today's Holiday

Swiss National Day (2025) This nationwide celebration of the Swiss Confederation is observed with torchlight processions, fireworks, shooting contests, and folkloric events. The day commemorates the occasion in 1291 when representatives of the three original cantons of Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden met on the Rutli meadow and swore an oath of alliance and mutual defense to lay the foundations of the Confederation. More...