Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, November 18, 2018)Word of the Day | |||||||
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Article of the Day | |
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Laser ConstructionLasers are constructed from three principal parts: an energy source called the pump source; a gain, or laser, medium where amplification takes place; and an optical resonator, usually formed by two or more mirrors. The first laser, built in 1960, used a ruby rod with polished ends and produced intense pulses of red light. Since then, various materials have been used as the active media in lasers, including solids, such as crystals, as well as gasses and liquids. What are superluminescent lasers? More... |
This Day in History | |
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Pope Boniface VIII Issues Unam Sanctam (1302)Historians consider the papal bull Unam sanctam—which proclaimed that there is no salvation outside of the Church—to be one of the most extreme statements of papal spiritual supremacy ever made. It stemmed from Pope Boniface VIII's ongoing feud with Philip the Fair of France over Philip's taxation of clerics without papal consent. Unam sanctam thus emphasized that Catholic princes are subject to the pope in temporal and religious matters. How did Philip respond to the bull? More... |
Today's Birthday | |
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Jacques Maritain (1882)Maritain was a French philosopher. His thought is based on Aristotelianism and Thomism—the philosophical and theological system developed by St. Thomas Aquinas—but incorporates concepts from other classical and modern philosophers and draws upon anthropology, sociology, and psychology. Raised Protestant, Maritain became Roman Catholic in his 20s and later served as French ambassador to the Vatican and forged a friendship with Pope Paul VI. With whom did Maritain once make a suicide pact and why? More... |
Quotation of the Day | |
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There's no such thing as old age, there is only sorrow. Edith Wharton (1862-1937) |
Idiom of the Day | |
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get (one's) (own) way— To get or have what one wants; to have things done according to one's personal preference or desires. More... |
Today's Holiday | |
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Haiti Battle of Vertières' Day (2022)This official public holiday memorializes the last battle for Haitian independence on November 18, 1803, in which Haitian rebels defeated the French colonialists. The victory at Vertières, near the present-day port city of Cap-Haïtien, signified the end of a long freedom struggle that stretched out over two major phases. Less than two months after the battle, Haiti became the first black independent republic. More... |