Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, April 28, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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mercurial
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| Article of the Day | |
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 Teddy BearsThe teddy bear is a traditional stuffed toy bear for children. One legend has it that the name originates from an incident involving Theodore Roosevelt, whose attendants found and caught an old injured bear during a hunting trip. "Teddy" refused to kill the animal, however, calling it "unsportsmanlike." "Teddy's Bear" was immediately publicized by political cartoonists, and its stuffed animal form began selling in stores shortly thereafter. Where is the world's first teddy bear museum located? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Charles de Gaulle Resigns as President of France (1969)A celebrated general and statesman, de Gaulle was elected first president of France's Fifth Republic—a system of government with broad executive powers—in 1959. He helped write the constitution and pushed for direct popular election of the president. The mass civil unrest of May 1968 by students and workers almost toppled his government, and in 1969 de Gaulle was defeated in a referendum on constitutional amendments and resigned. He died just a year later. Whom did he bar from his funeral? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Nelle Harper Lee (1926)The daughter of an Alabama lawyer, Lee studied law before publishing her first and only novel in 1960. To Kill a Mockingbird, the story of a white lawyer who defends a black man falsely accused of raping a white girl, immediately found national acclaim. It won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was adapted for film the next year. Though her novel is still widely read, Lee has largely stayed out of the spotlight. What did she write in response to a school board's decision to ban her novel? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose—a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.Mary Shelley (1797-1851) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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in order that— So that; with the particular aim or purpose of. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Penn Relay Carnival (2017)The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track and field event in the United States. The first relay meet held on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia was on April 21, 1895, but even back then the tents and atmosphere contributed to its reputation as a carnival rather than just a series of races. Since that time, the Penn Relays have served as a springboard for athletes who later went on to win Olympic medals. It is also a breeding ground for rising track and field stars, with more than 700 high school teams and 180 college teams participating. More... | |
| In the News | |
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7-Year-Old Fossil Fan Helped Discover DinosaurWith help from a fossil-loving schoolboy, scientists have unveiled a bizarre mishmash of a dinosaur that was a distant cousin of uber-predator Tyrannosaurus rex – but also a committed vegetarian. Eleven years ago, Diego Suarez was 7 and on a research ... More... | |