Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, April 4, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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pendent
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| Article of the Day | |
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 CicadasA cicada is an insect with a stout body, a wide, blunt head, protruding eyes, and two pairs of membranous wings. Male cicadas have platelike membranes on the thorax, which they vibrate like drum heads, producing a loud, shrill sound. The Magicicada species have the longest known life cycles of any insect--17 years. They live only one week as winged adults, however, spending the rest of the time in the form of larvae, burrowed underground. To what are their long life cycles an adaptation? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 World Trade Center Opens in New York City (1973)With seven buildings and a shopping concourse, the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan was the largest commercial complex in the world before it was destroyed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Its most prominent structures were the 110-story rectangular Twin Towers, which, at more than 1,360 ft (415 m) tall, were the tallest buildings in the world until the Sears Tower surpassed them in 1974. How did the construction of the complex lead to the expansion of the island of Manhattan? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 McKinley Morganfield, AKA Muddy Waters (1913)As a teenager in Mississippi, Waters played traditional country blues, but after settling in Chicago in the 1940s, he switched to a more urban style with amplified instruments. He soon became known for his driving slide guitar technique and darkly expressive vocal style. From the 1950s on, Waters recorded, toured, and played various music festivals. His electric blues influenced myriad musicians, including Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan. What world-famous band took its name from one of his songs? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Very few of us are what we seem.Agatha Christie (1890-1976) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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wash (someone's) mouth out (with soap)— To punish someone for using rude, vulgar, or obscene language by cleaning his or her mouth with soap (usually used merely as a threat). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Megalesia (2017)The cult of the Phrygian goddess Cybele (also known as Magna Mater) was established in Rome on this day in 204 BCE, and April 4 continued to be set aside as a commemoration of the foreign goddess' arrival in Rome. In the beginning, no Roman citizens were allowed to take part in it. But over time it spread to the streets of Rome, where Cybele's image was carried in a chariot drawn by lions with her castrated priests leaping and gashing themselves in a frenzy of devotion. The procession went from the Palatine to the Circus, where plays known as ludi megalenses were held. More... | |
| In the News | |
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Your Baby is Doing Little Physics Experiments All the TimeWhen an infant sees an object behave in a surprising way, she does everything she can to learn more about its mysteries, and the initial surprise ends up helping her learn. A new study suggests that a baby can identify an unusual object as being more ... More... | |