Someone or something's reason for being.
Raison d'être
Fact of the Day
American Charles Osborne suffered from hiccups for a record-breaking 68 years, from 1922 until 1990.
Quote of the Day
"Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its students.
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~ Hector Berlioz, composer
On This Day
1570 James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray and regent for the infant king, James VI of Scotland, became the first recorded person to be assassinated by a firearm.
1806 William Pitt the Younger died aged 46 at Bowling Green House on Putney Heath, probably from peptic ulceration of his stomach, he was unmarried and left no children.
1897 The body of Elva Zona Heaster was found at her home in West Virginia. Initially thought to be a result of natural causes, her husband was later convicted of her murder, based on the testimony of her ghost. It's the only known case in which such testimony helped to secure a murder conviction.
1898 Irish nationalist, politician, and journalist, William O'Brien, founded the United Irish League with the motto 'the land for the people'.
1944 Norwegian artist Edvard Munch died at his home, aged 80.
1985 The proceedings of the House of Lords were televised for the first time.
1989 Surrealist Spanish artist Salvador Dalí died of heart failure, aged 84.