Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, December 14, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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| Article of the Day | |
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 SwaddlingSwaddling is the age-old practice of snugly wrapping infants in cloths or blankets so that movement of their limbs is tightly restricted. Originally believed to be an essential part of stimulating proper posture in infants, swaddling is still widely used today to settle and soothe irritable infants, supposedly by providing warmth and security for a baby who has recently left the womb. Swaddling should be stopped once the baby learns to do what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 USSR Expelled from the League of Nations (1939)The League of Nations was an international confederation of countries created after World War I and disbanded following World War II when many of its functions were transferred to the United Nations. The League collapsed when faced with threats to international peace from all sides in the 1930s, including the Spanish civil war, Japan's resumption of war against China, and the appeasement of Adolf Hitler at Munich. Its last important act was to expel the Soviet Union in 1939 for doing what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Daniel De Leon (1852)A newspaper editor, De Leon joined the Socialist Labor Party in the US in 1890 and soon became one of its leaders. He led a radical faction that seceded from the Knights of Labor in 1895 and formed the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance (STLA). The STLA was later absorbed by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), which he helped found in 1905. After being refused a seat at a 1908 IWW convention by extremists who favored violent tactics over political action, he founded what organization? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Consequences are unpitying. Our deeds carry their terrible consequences, quite apart from any fluctuations that went before—consequences that are hardly ever confined to ourselves.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Third Night of Hanukkah (2017)Hanukkah commemorates the successful rebellion of the Jews against the Syrians in the Maccabean War of 162 BCE, but the military associations are played down. What is really being celebrated is the survival of Judaism. Jewish families today celebrate this holiday by lighting a special Hanukkah menorah, a candelabrum with holders for eight candles, one for each day of celebration, plus a ninth, the shammash, used to light the others. A special prayer is recited during the lighting, and while the candles burn it is a time for songs and games, including the four-sided toy called the dreidel. More... | |