Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, May 7, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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ultramarine
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| Article of the Day | |
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 ChlorophyllChlorophyll is a green pigment that gives most plants their color and enables them to carry out photosynthesis, the process through which plants get energy from light. Chlorophyll absorbs light in the red and blue-violet portions of the visible spectrum; the green portion is not absorbed and, reflected, gives chlorophyll its characteristic green color. Only one animal has been found to use the chlorophyll it has eaten to perform photosynthesis for itself. What is it? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 West German Chancellor Willy Brandt Resigns (1974)Brandt fled his native Germany for Norway after the rise of the Nazis in the 1930s. Returning after the war, he became involved in politics and, in 1969, was elected chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. As chancellor, he greatly improved relations with East Germany, the Soviet Union, and Poland, and in 1971 he received the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1974, he was forced to resign after an embarrassing scandal in which one of his close aides was exposed as what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Robert Browning (1812)Browning was a leading Victorian poet known for his dramatic monologues. In 1846, he secretly married Elizabeth Barrett, whisking her away from her despotic father to Italy. Barrett was already a famous poet, but Browning's poems—such as "Fra Lippo Lippi" and "The Bishop Orders His Tomb"—gained recognition slowly. Long after his beloved wife's death, his novel in verse about a murder, The Ring and the Book, finally earned him wide acclaim. In 1890, he became the first dead man to do what? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 What's the use of making mysteries? It only makes people want to nose 'em out.Edith Wharton (1862-1937) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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in the eye of (something)— At, in, or amidst the central or focal point of something. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Mushroom Festival (2017)Richmond, Missouri, is known for its highly prized morel mushrooms, which resemble a deeply pitted or folded cone-like sponge at the top of a hollow stem. The highlight of the annual Mushroom Festival, which has been held in Richmond since 1980, is the Big Morel Contest. Other events include a parade, crafts, a carnival, mushroom eating, and much more. Mushroom hunters flock to the town's wooded areas in search of the morel, known as the "Golden Fleece of mushrooms" because it is hard to find and has never been successfully cultivated. More... | |
| In the News | |
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Massive Dead Zones Threaten Atlantic Sea LifeDead zones in the Atlantic—so called because their lack of oxygen can't sustain life—have been seen for the first time by scientists. These areas of extremely low oxygen occurred in the tropical North Atlantic. The levels of oxygen were the lowest ever ... More... | |