Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, May 18, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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fecund
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| Article of the Day | |
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 Towers of SilenceAccording to Zoroastrian tradition, a dead body is unclean and must be disposed of in a safe manner. To prevent the pollution of earth or fire, dead bodies are placed atop a tower, where they are exposed to the sun and birds of prey. The towers are circular raised structures with nearly flat roofs that are divided into three concentric rings; one ring is designated for the bodies of men, one for women, and one for children. Who coined the term "tower of silence"? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Mount Saint Helens Erupts (1980)Beginning in mid-March 1980, a series of earth tremors and steam explosions at Washington's Mount Saint Helens suggested that the volcano—dormant since 1857—was on the verge of erupting. Then, on May 18, the entire north side of the mountain exploded in a cloud of ash, rock, and fiery gases that collapsed a good part of it and carried debris for many miles. About 60 people were killed, and millions of tons of ash blanketed much of the American northwest. How far did the ash eventually spread? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Walter Adolph Gropius (1883)Gropius was the immensely influential director of the Bauhaus school of art and architecture in Germany. In 1937, he immigrated to America and became head of Harvard's architecture department. He was an early exponent of the International style and believed that all design—whether of a chair, a building, or a city—should focus on the particular needs and problems involved, without regard to old styles. His 1923 re-design of what everyday object is now considered an icon of 20th-century design? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It is a melancholy truth that even great men have their poor relations.Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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inch-perfect— Extremely accurate; very well placed or perfectly judged. (Used especially of maneuvers, moves, or shots in sport.) Primarily heard in UK. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Lilac Festival (Rochester, NY) (2017)The annual Lilac Festival in Rochester, New York celebrates the abundance of lilacs in the city's Highland Park. Horticulturalist John Dunbar began the garden in 1892; the festival began six years later as a one-day event for people to enjoy the recently adorned park. Today this is a ten-day festival during which visitors admire more than 1,200 lilac bushes of more than 500 varieties. In addition to viewing the flowers, visitors to the Lilac Festival can also sample a wide array of international foods and enjoy concerts, art shows, and other free festival events. More... | |
| In the News | |
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Children's Brains "Light Up" at Sound of Mom's VoiceA mother's voice may do far more than soothe her child, new research suggests. When moms spoke, several areas of their children's brains were activated, the researchers reported. These included regions involved in emotion and reward processing, social ... More... | |