Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, January 20, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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insidious
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| Article of the Day | |
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 Beehive TombsBeehive tombs, or tholoi, are the large, underground ceremonial tombs constructed in Greece during the Late Bronze Age. The tombs, usually built into the side of a hill, have a distinctive beehive shape formed with layers of stone that taper toward the top of the structure. Though many of these tombs have been pillaged, they have still provided archeologists with some of the richest finds from the period. What might the abundance of such tombs at certain sites reveal about who used them? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Iran Releases 52 American Hostages (1981)The overthrow of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi of Iran by an Islamic revolutionary government in February 1979 led to a steady deterioration in Iranian-American relations. In September of that year, the exiled shah was allowed into the US for medical treatment, prompting Iranian students called the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line to seize the US embassy in Tehran and take 66 Americans hostage. After 444 days, the last 52 hostages were released. What was the "Canadian Caper"? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 George Burns (1896)Often remembered as a cigar-puffing nightclub entertainer who continued performing into his late 90s, Burns began his career by forming a comedy team in 1925 with Gracie Allen, whom he married a year later. They performed on radio and television, usually with Allen playing a scatterbrained wife and Burns in the role of an infinitely patient husband. Burns continued to perform after his wife's retirement, winning an Academy Award and becoming well-known for his recurring film role as what figure? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A married man forms married habits and becomes dependent on marriage just as a sailor becomes dependent on the sea.George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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case of the dropsy— A fictitious "condition" characterized by continually dropping things from one's hands. It is a play on the term "dropsy," which was formerly used to denote the condition now known as edema (or oedema). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 St. Agnes's Eve (2023)The eve of St. Agnes's Day has long been associated with superstitions about how young girls might discover the identity of their future husbands. According to one such belief, a girl who went to bed without any supper on this night would dream of the man she was to marry. John Keats used this legend as the basis for his well-known poem, "The Eve of St. Agnes," in which a maiden dreams of her lover and wakes to find him at her bedside. St. Agnes was martyred because she had consecrated herself to Christ and refused to marry. She was later named the patron saint of young virgins. More... | |