Historical Events, Birthdays And Quotations

This Day in History

Wed, 22 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Wed, 22 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

John Fitch was a man plagued by misfortune. His first foundry was a failure and his second was destroyed in the American Revolution. During a short-lived career as a surveyor in the early 1780s, he was captured by Native Americans. His luck finally seemed to turn around in 1786, when he built the first steamboat in the US, and in 1787, when he demonstrated his aptly named Perseverance on the Delaware River for an audience from the Constitutional Convention. Was his good fortune to last? Discuss

Tue, 21 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Aquino, leader of the Philippines' Liberal Party, was planning to run for president in 1972 when Ferdinand Marcos, the incumbent, declared martial law and had Aquino arrested on inflated charges. Aquino served eight years in prison, at one point demonstrating against his sentence with a 40-day hunger strike. In 1980, he was released to go to the US for heart-bypass surgery. After three years in exile, he returned to the Philippines and was immediately assassinated. Why had Aquino gone back?

Mon, 20 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

The trials of Lyle and Erik Menendez for the cold-blooded murders of their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion captivated the nation. The "bereaved" sons initially escaped suspicion, but in the months after the murders, they went on a spending spree with their parents' money, to the tune of over $1 million, that raised a few eyebrows. Still, the pair might never have been arrested, and ultimately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, had not who come forward?

In the News

Wed, 22 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Wed, 22 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Nearly three decades ago, a 14-year-old in the United Kingdom got hit in the eye during a game of badminton and lost her contact lens. No big deal, right? Well, 28 years later, doctors found the missing contact … embedded in a cyst in her left eyelid. It's ... Discuss

Tue, 21 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

After having more than 20 surgeries over four years, Katie Stubblefield finally has a new face. In May of last year, doctors at the Cleveland Clinic helped the then 21-year-old become the world's 40th face transplant recipient, and the youngest in U.S ...

Mon, 20 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

On August 4, NASA engineers played Wham!'s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” in an attempt to wake up Opportunity, a rover on Mars that has been radio silent for months. But even the lively spirits of George Michael and Andrew Ridgely failed to stir the ...

Today's Birthdays

Wed, 22 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Wed, 22 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Unappreciated in his time, Papin was a French physicist and inventor who significantly advanced the development of steam power. In 1679, he invented a steam digester that was the forerunner of the pressure cooker, in the process demonstrating the influence of atmospheric pressure on boiling points. His observations of his digester then led him to design a steam-driven piston that became the basis for early steam engines. Despite his innovations, he died in relative obscurity. Where is he buried? Discuss

Tue, 21 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

The younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret was a somewhat controversial member of the royal family, mainly as a result of her turbulent love life. She called off her first engagement, to a divorcee 16 years her senior, when it became clear that marrying him would mean renouncing her right of succession. A few years later, she wed photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, but rumors of her infidelities abounded, and they eventually divorced. With whom did she supposedly stray?

Mon, 20 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

A career statesman, Poincaré ascended to the highest echelons of French government, serving as prime minister on several occasions and as president from 1913 to 1920. In the lead-up to World War I, Poincaré, a conservative and nationalist, worked to prepare France for possible hostilities, strengthening its military and its alliances with Russia and Britain. His efforts paid off, and Germany was defeated by the Allied Powers in 1918. What prompted him to send French troops into Germany in 1923?

Article of the Day

Wed, 22 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Wed, 22 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Tonsil stones, or tonsilloliths, are clusters of calcareous matter that form in the rear of the mouth in the crevasses of the tonsils, called tonsillar crypts. Though the mechanism by which they form is debated, they are known to be composed of calcium salts, sometimes in combination with mineral salts. Typically small in size, they can be difficult to diagnose. However, they are not harmful and can usually be removed by the patient. How big can tonsilloliths get? Discuss

Tue, 21 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

The most common forms of identity theft occur when someone obtains another person's personal information, such as a date of birth, and uses it to open a fraudulent bank, credit card, or other account, or to obtain false loans. In other cases, criminals provide another's name and information to police when arrested, so that the charges appear on that person's record. According to some statistics, how long does the average victim take to resolve a case of identity theft?

Mon, 20 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Born in the seventh century, Songtsän Gampo was the founder of the Tibetan empire. Though much of the information about his life is derived from legend and tradition, Gampo is believed to have ascended to the throne while still a minor. He is widely credited with bringing many cultural and technological advances to Tibet. Most notably, he is considered to be the first of the three rulers, known as the "Dharma Kings," who established Buddhism in Tibet. Who were the other two?

Quotations of the Day

Wed, 22 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Wed, 22 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Why did the old Persians hold the sea holy? Why did the Greeks give it a separate deity ... ? Surely all this is not without meaning ... But that same image, we ourselves see in all rivers and oceans. It is the image of the ungraspable phantom of life; and this is the key to it all. Discuss

Tue, 21 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.

Mon, 20 Aug 2018 05:00:00 GMT

What a pity that in life we only get our lessons when they are of no use to us.

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