Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, November 28, 2022)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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phytophagous
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| Article of the Day | |
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 La Brea Tar PitsThis famous fossil field is located in Los Angeles, California. Once used by local Native Americans as a source of tar for waterproofing, the tar pits are now a protected archeological site, as they contain a vast quantity of fossils from the last ice age. Indeed, more than one million prehistoric specimens have already been exhumed from the pits, among them mammoth, mastodon, and saber-toothed cat fossils, and are on display at the Page Museum there. What is a tar pit, and how does it form? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First Serving Female British MP Elected (1919)American-born Nancy Witcher Astor, or Viscountess Astor, was the second woman elected to the British Parliament's House of Commons and the first to actually serve. She concentrated on women's issues, temperance, and child welfare and was reelected many times, serving until 1945. Astor attracted a great deal of attention, much of it for her caustic and witty comments. She reportedly once said to Winston Churchill, "If you were my husband, I'd poison your tea!" What was his alleged response? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908)Claude Lévi-Strauss—not to be confused with jeans manufacturer Levi Strauss—was a French anthropologist and leading exponent of structuralism, an anthropological theory that holds that cultures, like languages, can be viewed as systems of signs and analyzed in terms of the structural relations among their elements. Borrowing heavily from contemporary linguistics, his theory was a major departure from earlier "functionalist" theories. Why was Lévi-Strauss investigated by the FBI? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent.Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be home and hosed— To have successfully completed something, as a project or activity. Primarily heard in Australia. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Timor-Leste Proclamation of Independence Day (2022)After the East Timorese declared independence from Portugal on November 28, 1975, it took over two decades to fulfill the promise of freedom. Their plans were foiled by Indonesia, which carried out its own occupation of its neighbor between 1975 and 1999. Observances for the November 28 anniversary honor the veterans of the independence movement. State leaders and other dignitaries usually participate in a parade, and the president of the country often bestows medals of honor to distinguish individuals who fought for the country's freedom. More... | |