Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, March 20, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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figurine
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| Article of the Day | |
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 The Sea PeoplesSea Peoples, seafaring raiders who ravaged and settled the Mediterranean coasts between the 12th and 13th centuries BCE, are mentioned in a number of records from ancient civilizations. Scholars believe that the warriors were actually members of a confederacy of several ethnic groups, and a number of hypotheses exist regarding the identities and motives of the Sea Peoples. Which empire's decline is believed to have resulted from the activities of the Sea Peoples? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Ian Ball Attempts to Kidnap Princess Anne (1974)Intending to kidnap Queen Elizabeth II's only daughter and collect a £2 million ransom, Ball attacked Princess Anne's chauffeur-driven limousine as it returned to Buckingham Palace. He shot the chauffeur, two policemen, and a passerby who tried to intervene, but Anne got away with the help of another passerby. Ball was then captured. His victims recovered, and all six who tried to help Anne were awarded medals. What was Anne's famously feisty retort when Ball ordered her out of the car? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (1957)Lee is an American filmmaker whose movies often celebrate the richness of African-American culture and address problems such as racism, sexism, and addiction. He first gained recognition with his New York University graduation film in 1982. He went on to make Do the Right Thing, which focuses on the complexities of interracial relations, and Malcolm X, a biopic about the African-American leader. To prevent the use of his nickname, Lee sought legal action against whom in 2003? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 What is a novel if not a conviction of our fellow-men's existence strong enough to take upon itself a form of imagined life clearer than reality and whose accumulated verisimilitude of selected episodes puts to shame the pride of documentary history.Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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beer muscles— An inflated notion of one's strength, ego, or bravado due to excess consumption of alcohol (not necessarily beer). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Tunisia Independence Day (2017)Independence Day is a public holiday commemorating a treaty signed on this day in 1956 that formally recognized Tunisia's independence from France. It had been a French colony since the 1880s. More... | |
| In the News | |
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Comma Comeuppance: When Rogue Punctuation Proves CostlyA US dairy faces an overtime bill of about $10m (£8m), after a group of truck drivers won a pay dispute that hinged on some punctuation. An appeal court sided with the drivers, saying the lack of a comma in the state of Maine's overtime laws made the ... More... | |