Daily Knowledge "Everyone is a genius at least once a year. The real geniuses simply have their bright ideas closer together."
[Georg C. Lichtenberg]
Quote of the Day, from brainyquote.com (2026/05/19)
Article of the Day
The Silverthrone Caldera is a poorly studied volcano in the Range 2 Coast Land District of British Columbia, Canada. It lies within the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains and reaches an elevation of 2,860 metres (9,380 feet), although some sources give an elevation as high as 3,160 m (10,370 ft). Deeply eroded, the caldera is about 25 by 20 kilometres (16 by 12 miles) in size and has a rugged topography. The area is the origin of several streams and contains several named mountains, including Silverthrone Mountain. Volcanic rocks deposited by eruptions include rhyolites, dacites, andesites and basaltic andesites. They are exposed in valleys, but at higher elevations they are largely buried under glacial ice. The Silverthrone Caldera was a source of obsidian for indigenous peoples during the pre-Columbian era. Geological studies have been conducted at the volcano since at least the 1960s, but its very remote location has impeded detailed fieldwork. (Full article...)
Current Events
BBC One-minute World News
Fast briefed every day.
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Image of the Day
Source: Wikimedia Commons.
On this day: May 19
May 19: Pontian Greek Genocide Remembrance Day in Greece (1919); Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day in Turkey (1919)
- 715 – Gregory II began his pontificate; his conflict with Byzantine emperor Leo III eventually led to the establishment of the temporal power of the pope.
- 1655 – Anglo-Spanish War: English forces invaded Jamaica, then administered by Spain as the Colony of Santiago, and captured it a week later.
- 1674 – John III Sobieski (pictured) was elected by the szlachta as the monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
- 1776 – American Revolutionary War: A Continental Army garrison west of Montreal surrendered to British troops at the Battle of the Cedars.
- 1991 – Breakup of Yugoslavia: With the local Serb population boycotting the referendum, Croatians voted in favour of independence from Yugoslavia.
- 2015 – A corroded pipeline near Refugio State Beach, California, spilled 142,800 gallons (3,400 barrels) of crude oil onto the Gaviota Coast.
- Helena of Moscow (b. 1476)
- Nellie Melba (b. 1861)
- Riccardo Calafiori (b. 2002)
- Jeffrey Catherine Jones (d. 2011)
Knowledge about Earth
Facts and Figures
- Age of Earth: ~ 4.568 billion years
- World Population: 7.3 billion (July 2015)
- Continents: 7 (Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia)
- Mean Radius: 6371.0 km
- Axial Tilt: 23,44°
Image Source: Wikipedia - License: Public Domain (thanks to NASA)
Our Solar System
Our solar system consists of
1 star (Sun) and 8 planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune).
- 1 AU (astronomical unit) is roughly the distance between Earth and the Sun (about 150 million kilometres).
- The space probe Voyager 1 was launched by the NASA in 1977 and is meanwhile (autumn 2015) about 133 AU away from Earth.
Image Source: Wikipedia - License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Why you should extend your general knowledge:
There are many reasons why one should or wants to extend his knowledge.
First you should consider that "general knowledge" is knowledge which a group of humans - who belong together regional, temporal or otherwise - owns. Thus, it describes a basic understanding of specific categories of knowledge.
As the English philosopher Francis Bacon said before: "Wisdom is Power" [Bacon 1597].