Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, December 14, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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atonement
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| Article of the Day | |
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 Breathalyzers"Breathalyzer" is a trademarked brand name that has become a generic term for any device that uses a breath sample to estimate blood alcohol content (BAC)—often of those suspected of driving drunk. Breathalyzers use infrared spectrophotometers, electrochemical fuel cells, and other technologies to render BAC estimates that are often used later in criminal prosecutions. Why are police officers supposed to keep suspects under observation for at least 15 minutes before administering a test? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First Group of Explorers Reaches South Pole (1911)Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen had been planning for a trip to the North Pole until he heard that someone had beaten him to it. Instead, he and his team set sail for Antarctica. There, they spent nearly a year preparing for the final two-month trek that made them the first people to reach the South Pole. With good equipment and plenty of sled dogs, the team was extremely well prepared compared to other polar expeditions of the day, some of which ended badly. How was their clothing better? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 George VI, King of Great Britain and Ireland (1895)The subject of the Academy Award-winning 2010 film The King's Speech, George VI became king of the United Kingdom following the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII. George was an important symbolic leader of the British people during World War II, supporting the wartime leadership of Winston Churchill and visiting his armies on the battlefield. He earned the respect of his people by scrupulously observing the responsibilities of a constitutional monarch and by overcoming what handicap? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A new philosophy generally means in practice the praise of some old vice.Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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catch the sun— To get sunburned. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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.jpg) Halcyon Days (2022)The ancient Greeks called the seven days preceding and the seven days following the Winter Solstice the "Halcyon Days." Greek mythology has it that Halcyone (or Alcyone), Ceyx's wife and one of Aeolus's daughters, drowned herself when she learned her husband had drowned. The gods took pity on her and transformed them both into kingfishers. Zeus commanded the seas to be still during these days, and it was considered a period when sailors could navigate in safety. Today, the expression "halcyon days" has come to mean a period of tranquility often used as a nostalgic reference to times past. More... | |