Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, December 8, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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careen
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| Article of the Day | |
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 The Inscription of BehistunCarved about 328 ft (100 m) up the face of a cliff in Iran's Kermanshah Province, the Behistun Inscription recounts the reign of Darius I of Persia in 3 cuneiform languages: Old Persian, Susian, and Assyrian. The decipherment of these 6th century BCE inscriptions provided scholars with the key to cuneiform script, becoming to cuneiform what the Rosetta Stone is to Egyptian hieroglyphs. How were 19th-century scholars able to copy the inscription? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Pope Pius IX Defines Immaculate Conception as Dogma (1854)The Immaculate Conception is the Roman Catholic dogma that asserts that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was preserved from the stain of original sin—the condition of sin that marks all humans as a result of Adam's first act of disobedience—at the moment of her conception. In 1709, Pope Clement XI made the feast of the Immaculate Conception a holy day of obligation—145 years before it became official church dogma. The Immaculate Conception is often confused with what other church doctrine? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Camille Claudel (1864)A skilled French sculptor in her own right, Claudel is best remembered for being a student, collaborator, model, and mistress of famed sculptor Auguste Rodin. The two had a tumultuous affair that began to crumble in the 1890s, and Claudel, who suffered from mental illness, became increasingly unstable and reclusive. She was committed in 1913 and remained institutionalized until her death 30 years later. Her work is highly valued by collectors, but little of it survives today. Why is this? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 To admit authorities, however heavily furred and gowned, into our libraries and let them tell us how to read, what to read, what value to place upon what we read, is to destroy the spirit of freedom which is the breath of those sanctuaries. Everywhere else we may be bound by laws and conventions—there we have none.Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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make (oneself) useful— To do something that is actively helpful or of assistance to others. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Feast of the Immaculate Conception (2022)The Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary is an important day throughout Latin America, but it is especially significant in the Mexican town of San Juan de los Lagos, where the celebration begins several days in advance. The town temporarily renames the streets where the festival will occur. On Calle de Alegria (Joy Street), for example, there are puppet shows, side shows, and musical performances. On the morning of December 8, the 11-inch image of the Virgin Mary leaves the local church, carried by priests on a silver litter. More... | |