Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, December 26, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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| Article of the Day | |
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 The Naked-Eye PlanetsThe naked-eye planets are the five planets in our solar system that can be observed without any optical aid: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The five planets closest to Earth, they were the only ones known to the ancients before the development of the telescope. Grouped together with the Sun and the Moon, they form what some cultures call the seven heavenly objects. Ancient cultures' knowledge of the heavens can be seen in the word "planet," which comes from a Greek term meaning what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Indian Ocean Tsunami Strikes (2004)A tsunami is a series of massive waves generated when a body of water is rapidly displaced. The deadliest tsunami in recorded history, the Indian Ocean tsunami killed some 230,000 people in Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, and other countries as far away as Somalia on the Horn of Africa. It was triggered by an undersea earthquake near Sumatra with a magnitude of between 9.1 and 9.3 and inundated coastal communities with waves up to 100 ft (30 m) high. How far away were the effects felt? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Mary Fairfax Somerville (1780)Somerville became an accomplished science writer at a time when women's involvement in the sciences was generally discouraged. She earned widespread recognition for her 1831 translation of Pierre-Simon Laplace's five-volume Mécanique Céleste (Celestial Mechanics), a project she undertook for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, which aimed to adapt scientific material for the rapidly expanding reading public. What term was coined in a review of one of her other works? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 There are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, and the third is useless.Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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fourth wall— The imaginary barrier separating performers in a TV show, film, or play from the audience. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Fiesta Grande (2022)Around Christmas time, thousands of Chilean pilgrims gather to honor the Virgen del Rosario (Virgin of the Rosary), patron saint of miners. The ceremonies take place in the copper-mining town of Andacollo, situated in the Andes mountains. The centerpiece of the festival is a famous three-foot wooden statue of the Virgin that is housed in Andacollo's basilica. The festival's main proceedings take place on December 26, during which a religious dance is performed in indigenous costume. Nearby, cockfighting and horseracing attract participants as alternative secular activities. More... | |