Historical Events, Birthdays And Quotations

This Day in History

Fri, 19 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Fri, 19 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

After years of designing cars for others, John DeLorean went into business for himself and designed the DeLorean DMC-12, a distinctive stainless steel sports car with gull-wing doors that was immortalized in 1985's Back to the Future. Prior to the film's release, however, DeLorean was better known for his arrest for cocaine trafficking than for his cars. At the time, DeLorean's car company was failing, and drug smuggling offered him much-needed cash. How did he manage to beat the rap? Discuss

Thu, 18 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

In the early 20th century, Canadian women were often prohibited from hearing court testimony deemed inappropriate. Emily Murphy protested and became the first woman magistrate in Canada—and all of the British Empire—but her rulings were often challenged because women were not legally considered "persons." Murphy and four other women, the "Famous Five," submitted a petition for constitutional clarification. The subsequent Persons Case granted Canadian women personhood. What else did it establish?

Wed, 17 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics was scheduled to begin at 5:35 PM on October 17, 1989, but Mother Nature intervened. The Loma Prieta earthquake struck San Francisco at 5:04 PM with 60,000 fans already inside Candlestick Park. Due to the timing, it was the first major earthquake to be broadcast on live TV, and a blimp covering the game was able to coordinate emergency efforts. How long is the earthquake believed to have lasted?

In the News

Fri, 19 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Fri, 19 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

The fundamentals of ballet haven't changed all that much since its invention in 15th-century Italy. Yet the popular image of this deeply traditional medium has been largely defined by the talents of one thoroughly modern artist: Hilaire-Germain-Edgar ... Discuss

Thu, 18 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

A household cure for declines in the bee population, from a mushroom retailer named Paul Stamets who realized mushrooms may hold an antiviral power for the insects, could be in wide use by next year, giving hope in a struggle to save the vital species. The ...

Wed, 17 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Mysterious "ghost" radio emissions have been spotted by researchers, some that have lasted for 25 years, only to fade away and then return. While the "ghost" emissions could be extremely common, the cause is still unknown, according to experts. University of ...

Today's Birthdays

Fri, 19 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Fri, 19 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

In February 2003, Urbani, an Italian physician employed by the World Health Organization (WHO), was called to examine a man hospitalized in Hanoi, Vietnam, with what was initially thought to be the flu or pneumonia. Recognizing that it was in fact a new and highly contagious disease, Urbani immediately notified the WHO, prompting a rapid global response that ultimately saved many lives, though sadly not his own. The doctor himself soon succumbed to the disease he had identified. What was it? Discuss

Thu, 18 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

As prime minister of Canada from 1968–79 and 1980–84, Trudeau advocated a strong federal government and took a determined stand against the Quebec separatist movement. Despite his opposition to Quebec's independence, he supported Canadian sovereignty and secured for the country a new constitution in 1982 that precipitated its official independence from Britain. He also had French adopted as an official state language. How did Trudeau figure into an alleged plot to assassinate Fidel Castro?

Wed, 17 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Born in America at a time when being black and female were considered distinct disadvantages, particularly in the scientific community, Jemison nevertheless had big dreams and intense drive. She studied medicine and was a practicing physician until the late 1980s, when she made history by becoming the first black female astronaut. In 1992, she skyrocketed to fame aboard the US space shuttle Endeavour as the first African-American woman in space. Why did she resign from NASA the next year?

Article of the Day

Fri, 19 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Fri, 19 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Likely invented in the Middle East but later perfected by the Chinese, Japanese, and French, cloisonné is an ancient method of decorating metals with enamel. It involves adhering metal wire to a metal object in a specific pattern, filling the resulting compartments with colored enamel paste, and firing the object to fuse the enamel to its surface. The earliest surviving examples of cloisonné are six 13th century BCE Mycenaean rings. Where in Venice's St. Mark's Basilica can one find cloisonné? Discuss

Thu, 18 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Conscription, compulsory enrollment in a country's armed forces, existed as early as the 27th century BCE in Egypt. Since then, forms of obligatory military service have been recorded in countless cultures; Japanese samurai, Aztec warriors, and citizen militiamen in ancient Greece and Rome are just a few examples of conscripted forces. Conscription in the modern sense dates from 1793, when the French Republic raised an army of 300,000 men. What countries draft women into military service?

Wed, 17 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

A predestination paradox is a scenario in which a time traveler seeking to alter the past inadvertently plays a role in bringing about the same future, thus creating a loop of events that "predestines" him to travel back in time yet again. This concept, often utilized in science-fiction works, appears in an episode of The Twilight Zone in which a man goes back in time and tries to prevent a fire but instead knocks over the lamp that causes it. What are some other examples of this paradox?

Quotations of the Day

Fri, 19 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Fri, 19 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

There was no use in trying to emancipate a wife who had not the dimmest notion that she was not free. Discuss

Thu, 18 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

It is the same with man as with the tree ... The more he seeketh to rise into the height and light, the more vigorously do his roots struggle earthward, downward, into the dark and deep—into the evil.

Wed, 17 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Curiosity is natural to the soul of man, and interesting objects have a powerful influence on our affections.

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