October 23, 2015
Word of the Day
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Definition:
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(noun) A cemetery, especially a large and elaborate one belonging to an ancient city. |
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cemetery, burial ground, graveyard, memorial park
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| Usage: |
A guardian in a braided cap walked listlessly through the room like a ghost stalking through a necropolis. |
Article of the Day
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In 1770, Wolfgang von Kempelen unveiled his Mechanical Turk, a chess-playing automaton. Dressed in a cloak and turban and seated behind a chessboard, the mannequin played chess and executed complex mathematical puzzles. The Turk performed before numerous world leaders before it was revealed to be a hoax; the cabinet beneath the chessboard, which housed the internal mechanism, actually hid a chess master who secretly operated the machine. Which French Emperor was defeated by von Kempelen's Turk?
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This Day in History
The Springhill Mine Bump (1958)
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Discuss
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Just two years after an explosion killed 39 miners in Springhill, Nova Scotia, Canada, the most severe "bump," or underground shockwave, in North American mining history devastated the mining town again. Of the 174 miners in the mine at the time of the collapse, 100 were rescued by draegermen—rescue miners—who spent days trying to make contact with those below. Seventy-four miners were killed in the tragedy. Why were the bodies of the dead removed from the mine in airtight aluminum coffins?
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Today's Birthday
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Larousse was a French publisher, lexicographer, and encyclopedist. In 1852, he founded a publishing house called Librairie Larousse, producing textbooks, grammar books, and dictionaries, but his major work, reflecting his desire "to teach everyone about everything," was the combined dictionary and encyclopedia Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle, or Great Universal 19th-Century Dictionary, which took more than 10 years to complete. Who finished it after Larousse's death?
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Today's Holiday
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In Hungary, Republic Day and the 1956 Revolution are celebrated on October 23. They originally commemorated the 1956 uprising against Soviet control. On October 23, 1989, in honor of the previous revolution, Hungarians established a new republic, amending the constitution to allow multiparty politics, public assembly, and create separation of power in the government.
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Quote of the Day
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Two cheers for Democracy: one because it admits variety and two because it permits criticism.
E. M. Forster (1879-1970)
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In the News
Spooky the Asteroid to Hurtle Past Earth on Halloween
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Discuss
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An asteroid the size of a football stadium will zoom past Earth on Halloween, in a close encounter that astronomers view as far more treat than trick. The massive asteroid 2015 TB145 will come within 310,000 miles (500,000 kilometers) of the planet — or ...
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