Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, January 15, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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cogitate
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| Article of the Day | |
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 The LyreThe lyre is a stringed instrument of the harp family that has two curved arms connected at the upper end by a crossbar. The strings are stretched between the crossbar and the sound box and are plucked with the fingers or with a plectrum. In ancient Greece, the lyre accompanied poetry and song. Ancient Greece had two lyres—the kithara, which was used by the professional musician, and the lyra, the smaller instrument of the amateur. The lyre is typically associated with which Greek god? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht Murdered While Under Arrest (1919)During WWI, Luxemburg and Liebknecht formed a revolutionary, antiwar socialist group in Germany that became the Spartacus League. After the proclamation of the German republic in 1918, they opposed the moderate government formed by the Social Democrats and advocated its violent overthrow, to be replaced by a dictatorship of the proletariat. They transformed their league into the German Communist Party and led an uprising, which was crushed. Arrested, they were murdered by whom while in custody? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Mihai Eminescu (1850)Eminescu is considered Romania's greatest poet. His first poems were published when he was just a teen, and a few years later he joined the literary circle Junimea and began contributing to its journal, Convorbiri literare. His lyrical, passionate, and revolutionary poems had a profound influence on Romanian letters. Eminescu suffered from periodic attacks of insanity and died shortly after one such attack. He is honored in a monument in the capital city of what Islamic country? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 I desire no future that will break the ties with the past.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be left holding the bag— To have responsibility or guilt for something foisted upon oneself; to take the blame for something. Primarily heard in US. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Day of the Black Christ of Esquipulas (2017)For many people in Central and South America, the pilgrimage to the Black Christ of Esquipulas begins well in advance of the January 15 festival. Quite a number make the journey to Esquipulas entirely on foot. Many don wide-brimmed straw hats, to which they attach gray Spanish moss and chiches (breasts), a yellow fruit that resembles a gourd; those making the journey from Quetzaltenango blacken their hands with the juice from a special fruit. Ceremonial sites resembling altars, built from rocks brought by pilgrims, are scattered through the hills surrounding Esquipulas. More... | |
| In the News | |
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 Canine Commuter Rides Bus Alone to Dog ParkA black Labrador retriever named Eclipse has recently turned heads by riding the bus—alone—to her local dog park in Seattle, Washington. Commuters and transit employees alike have reported seeing Eclipse board the bus in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood and then ride about four stops to the dog park. While dogs are allowed on Seattle buses, they usually have human companions. Eclipse's independent streak does not bother her owner, however, who says that he just meets up with her later at the dog park. More... | |