Today's Holiday

Today's Holiday

Hay-on-Wye Festival of Literature

This celebration of words and language has been held in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, since 1988. It offers 10 days of comedy, theater and musical performances in addition to conversations and readings by poets and fiction writers. The festival regularly features some of the most widely known Welsh, Irish, English, European, and American writers in the world; musical performances have included the Welsh National Opera Male Choir and the English Shakespeare Company. A series of master classes in poetry, short story, and screenwriting has also been established for young writers. More... Discuss


This Day in History

Farmer Discovers Howe Caverns (1842)

Howe Caverns is a cave system in east-central New York that lies 156 ft (48 m) below ground. It was discovered in 1842, when farmer Lester Howe began to wonder why his cows all seemed to gather near one particular hill on hot summer days. Upon investigating, he felt a cool breeze blowing from a hole in the hill. He and a neighbor began to dig out the hole and uncovered the entrance to a cave. They explored it extensively and opened it for tours the next year. Why are there boats in the cave? More... Discuss


Today's Birthday

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859)

Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer noted for his tales about fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally a doctor, Conan Doyle studied under the sharp-eyed Dr. Joseph Bell, who was noted for his ability to draw accurate conclusions about people through observation. Bell was thus the model for Holmes, who appeared for the first time in 1887. Conan Doyle "killed off" Holmes in 1893 but was forced by public demand to resurrect him. What famous unsolved hoax might the author have perpetrated? More... Discuss


Article of the Day

Rube Goldberg Machines

A Rube Goldberg machine is an exceedingly complex apparatus that performs a very simple task in an incredibly indirect and convoluted way. Named for cartoonist Rube Goldberg, who was known for illustrating such contraptions, the machines are now the subject several competitions in which teams are judged on their machine's ability to complete a certain task using as many steps as possible. What is an example of a simple task performed by one of Goldberg's illustrated mechanisms? More... Discuss

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