Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, July 11, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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corporeal
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| Article of the Day | |
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 Plant ReproductionUnlike animals, plants are immobile and cannot actively seek out partners for reproduction. The first plants were aquatic and used abiotic factors, like water and wind, to carry male gametes to female reproductive structures. As plants moved from water onto land, they developed motile sperm cells that could travel via a thin film of water. Eventually, many plants evolved the pollen and seed structures common today. How do some plants attract the insect pollinators vital to their reproduction? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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.jpg) Skylab Returns to Earth (1979)Five years after it was abandoned in orbit, the US space laboratory Skylab began to fall back toward Earth. The impending re-entry and breakup became an international media event, as it was unclear exactly when or where the debris would land. News organizations went so far as to offer rewards for surviving pieces of the spacecraft. The debris finally crashed to Earth in Western Australia, earning NASA a $400 fine for littering from the Shire of Esperance. When was the fine paid? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 John Quincy Adams (1767)The son of a US president, Adams accompanied his father on diplomatic missions as a child and began his own political career at 14. A talented ambassador, he became secretary of state under President James Monroe. In 1824, he defeated Andrew Jackson in the presidential race, but he was unpopular in this role and lost to Jackson in the next election. He was then elected to Congress, where he served until his death. An outspoken opponent of slavery, he defended what famous mutineers in 1841? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 We are, and must be, one and all, burdened with faults in this world: but the time will soon come when, I trust, we shall put them off in putting off our corruptible bodies; when debasement and sin will fall from us with this cumbrous frame of flesh, and only the spark of the spirit will remain.Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Dunmow Flitch Trial (2020)The custom of awarding a flitch of bacon ("flitch" refers to the side of a hog) to any married pair who have neither regretted their union nor quarrelled for a year and a day since their wedding dates back to the 13th century in England. The trial formerly took place on Whit Monday, but these days it is held every four years in July. Today, claimants for the Dunmow Flitch are required to answer questions about their marriage at a mock trial, presided over by a judge. A jury consisting of six spinsters and six bachelors gives the verdict, and the proceedings are usually lighthearted. More... | |