Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, August 13, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
concordat
| |||||||
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The Fusor: DIY Nuclear FusionOriginally designed by TV developer Philo T. Farnsworth as a device to create nuclear fusion, the fusor is unique in its simplicity. Instead of slowly heating plasma, the fusor simply injects "high temperature" ions directly into a reaction chamber. Still, engineers have been unable to develop a practical power source using the technology. Hobbyists and even high school students have built small fusors over the years. The youngest person ever to build a working fusor was how old? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Opha Mae Johnson Becomes First Woman to Enlist in the US Marine Corps (1918)During World War I, the US Secretary of the Navy decided to allow women to join the Marine Corps Reserve so that they could take over clerical duties being performed at the time by battle-ready Marines who were needed overseas. Johnson, who was 18 at the time, was the first woman to enlist. It would be another 25 years before the Marines began letting women fill non-clerical positions like parachute rigger, mechanic, and cryptographer. What was Johnson's rank? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Alfred Hitchcock (1899)Hitchcock was a six-time Academy Award-nominated English-American filmmaker who directed more than 50 feature films in a career spanning six decades. A master of the suspense thriller, he developed a style that is so distinctive that any filmmaker working in the suspense genre invariably risks comparison to him. He was one of the best known directors of his time, often making humorous cameo appearances in his own films. Hitchcock was also known for his use of MacGuffins, which are what? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 It will be acknowledged even by those that practice it not, that clear and round dealing is the honor of man's nature, and that mixture of falsehood is like alloy in coin of gold and silver, which may make the metal work the better, but it embaseth it.Francis Bacon (1561-1626) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
get the knack of— To learn how to do something competently or well after a certain period of practice or development. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Bud Billiken DayBud Billiken is the "patron saint" of Chicago's African-American children. Created in 1923 by Robert S. Abbott, Bud Billiken is a symbol of things as they should be, and his day is primarily a children's event. There is a parade held on the second Saturday in August each year, complete with marching bands, baton twirlers, floats, and units from the Navy, Air Force, and National Guard. The formalities end when the parade reaches Washington Park in the Grand Boulevard area of Chicago, where families have picnics and cookouts. More... | |
| In the News | |
|---|---|
Lessons in Wound Healing from Our Favorite FlyInstead of stitches and screws, doctors are looking to the next generation of medical adhesives — glues and tape — to patch us up. Their inspiration? Water-loving creatures like oysters, marine worms and the caddis fly, a type of stream-dwelling, fish-baiting ... More... | |