Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, April 23, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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smarmy
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| Article of the Day | |
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 ChameleonsChameleons have laterally flattened bodies and bulging, independently rotating eyes. They are variously ornamented with crests, horns, and spines. They feed chiefly on insects and are unique among lizards in possessing long, sticky tongues with which they capture their prey. Their changes in skin color are under hormonal and nervous control and are not affected by the color of the background but by stimuli such as light, temperature, and emotion. "Chameleon" is derived from what Greek words? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Grand National Assembly of Turkey Is Founded (1920)The treaty negotiated between the Allies and the Ottoman Empire at the end of WWI liquidated the Ottoman Empire and virtually abolished Turkish sovereignty, but nationalists under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk were committed to establishing a sovereign Turkish state. During the struggle for independence, Atatürk pushed for the creation of a national assembly, which declared itself the supreme governing power when convened in 1920. When did it formally declare the sovereignty of Turkey? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Max Planck (1858)Planck was an influential German physicist whose work on black body radiation earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918. He also discovered the elementary quantum of action, now known as Planck's constant. As the influential president of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, he denounced Hitler's persecution of Jewish scientists and resigned in protest in 1937. Tragically, four of Planck's five children died before he did. One of his sons was executed after being implicated in what plot? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Life is my college. May I graduate well, and earn some honors!Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 First Day of Summer in Iceland (2020)In Iceland the First Day of Summer is second in importance only to Christmas and New Year's Day. It is a legal holiday observed on the Thursday between April 19 and April 25, a time of year that marks the end of the long northern winter. Special foods associated with the First Day of Summer include flat rye breads up to a foot in diameter, on top of which the day's share of food for each person would be piled. Since the turn of the century it has also been a popular day for young people to give speeches, poetry readings and dramatic performances, or to engage in singing, dancing, and sports. More... | |