July 18, 2016
Word of the Day
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Definition:
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(adjective) Strictly attentive to minute details of form in action or conduct. |
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meticulous |
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The old prince, like all fathers indeed, was exceedingly punctilious on the score of the honor and reputation of his daughters. |
Idiom of the Day
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An informal expression of praise for having done something well. (It can also be used sarcastically to mean the opposite.)
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Article of the Day
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Used by judges, presiding officers, and auctioneers, gavels are small ceremonial mallets often struck against a block to call for attention or punctuate rulings. Because it is often used forcefully and therefore broken, the gavel in the US House of Representatives is plain, wooden, and easily replaced. The US Senate gavel is made of solid ivory and is actually a replica. Which US Vice President splintered the original—which had been used since 1789—during a heated debate on nuclear energy?
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This Day in History
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In 1992, a professor and nine students from Lima's La Cantuta University were abducted by a military death squad, murdered, and secretly buried. The murders occurred during the presidency of Alberto Fujimori and his government's battle against the guerilla terrorist group Shining Path. The massacre contributed to Fujimori's conviction in 2009 on charges of human rights abuses, for which he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. What bombing was used as a justification for the La Cantuta Massacre?
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Today's Birthday
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Hooke was a prolific English physicist, mathematician, and inventor. He was a geometry professor and the curator of experiments for the Royal Society. An architect as well, he played a major role in the surveying and rebuilding of London after the 1666 fire. Considered the greatest mechanic of his age, he made myriad improvements to astronomical instruments and timepieces. In his pioneering book Micrographia, he described his microscopic observations of plant tissue and coined what term?
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Today's Holiday
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This holiday was established in 1941 to mark the return of Meiji the Great (1852-1912), Japan's 122nd emperor, from the northern island of Hokkaido in 1876. The vessel that transported the emperor, the Meiji-Maru, has been preserved as a national treasure and is open for public viewing on Marine Day. With the festival's new focus on marine environmental issues, organizations take advantage of the day to raise awareness by scheduling seaside cleanups and other special events. For Japanese schoolchildren, Marine Day also marks the beginning of their summer vacation.
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Quote of the Day
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Influence, n.: In politics, a visionary quo given in exchange for a substantial quid.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
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In the News
Largest Map Ever Made Will Unlock the History of the Universe
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Discuss
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What you're looking at is a slice of the entire universe, a web of galaxies billions of light years away. You're also looking into the past, since the further into the distance you look, the longer it took that light to reach your eyes. It all seems a lot smaller ...
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