Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, September 13, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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arboreal
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| Article of the Day | |
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 Mail ArtSome claim that mail art, an art form that uses the postal system as a medium, began when Cleopatra had herself delivered to Julius Caesar in a rolled-up carpet, but the thousands-strong, international network of mail artists as it exists today is a more recent development, evolving between the 1950s and 90s. Mail artists typically exchange ephemera in the form of decorated envelopes, illustrated letters, artist trading cards, and many other items. Who is deemed the pioneer of modern mail art? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Michelangelo Begins Carving His Statue of David (1501)Begun when the artist was just 26 years old and completed three years later, Michelangelo's David is considered the prime example of the Renaissance ideal of perfect humanity and a masterpiece of sculpture. The 17-ft (5.2-m) marble figure differs from other representations of David in that he appears tense and is not carrying the head of the slain Goliath. A replica of David on display in London's Victoria and Albert Museum has a detachable fig-leaf that was made for whose visit? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Samuel "Uncle Sam" Wilson (1766)Wilson was an American Revolutionary War veteran who owned a meatpacking plant in Troy, New York. He provided beef to the army during the War of 1812 in barrels stamped "US," indicating that they were US property. According to some sources, the soldiers began joking that the initials stood for "Uncle Sam," referring to Wilson, unwittingly inventing the character that would soon come into widespread use as a symbol of the US government. What resolution regarding Wilson did Congress pass in 1961? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Mark his perfect self-contentment, and hence learn this lesson, that to be self-contented is to be vile and ignorant, and that to aspire is better than to be blindly and impotently happy.Edwin Abbott (1838-1926) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a hard pill to swallow— Something, especially a fact or piece of news, that is unpleasant or difficult but which is unavoidable or must be accepted. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Eid Al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) (2016)This most important feast of the Muslim calendar is the concluding rite of those performing the Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca. For those not on pilgrimage, Eid al-Adha is a three-day festival celebrating Ibrahim's (Abraham's) willingness to obey Allah by killing his son, believed by Muslims to be Ishmael, and not Isaac as written in the Old Testament. Muslims consider Ishmael to be the forefather of the Arabs. Many Muslim families reenact this show of faith by sacrificing a cow, a ram, or a lamb on this day, using a portion of it for the family feast and donating one- or two-thirds to the poor. More... | |
| In the News | |
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Giraffes Aren't Just Giraffes. Turns Out There Are Four SpeciesA new genetic analysis of giraffes, an animal once thought to represent a single species called Giraffa camelopardalis, has revealed that the genus Giraffa actually contains at least four distinct species. The findings, published Thursday in Current ... More... | |