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| Definition: | (adjective) Of, relating to, resembling, or having the nature of glass. | ||
| Synonyms: | glassy | ||
| Usage: | The lake was so calm it looked vitreous in the pre-dawn light.Article of the Day | ||
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 | The Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market, or Tsukiji fish market, is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world. Located in Tokyo, Japan, the market offers more than 400 types of seafood and is a major attraction for foreign visitors. It typically opens at 3 AM, with auctions beginning around 5 AM. Bidding can only be done by licensed participants, but visitors can watch. | ||
This Day in History
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 | The Treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812 between the US and the UK. Although the treaty was signed in December, fighting continued for several weeks because it took time for news of the agreement to reach North America. The treaty essentially restored prewar borders and failed to deal with the matters of neutral rights and impressment that were the ostensible causes of the conflict. | ||
Today's Birthday
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 | One of the great experimental scientists of the 19th century, Joule is the man for whom the standard mechanical unit of work is named. He was an English physicist who made valuable contributions to the study of heat, electricity, and thermodynamics. His work established the mechanical theory of heat, determined the relationship between heat energy and mechanical energy, and established the first law of thermodynamics. | ||
Today's Holiday
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 | To celebrate the birth of Christ and the death of the Devil, All Saints Minster Church in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, rings its bell the same number of times as the number of the year (for example, 2,014 times in 2014) on Christmas Eve. The tolling starts at 11:00 PM, stops during the church service from midnight to 12:45, and then resumes until the years have been tolled away. The custom has been going on for almost 700 years. The bell has been called "Black Tom of Soothill" since the 13th century, and Tolling Black Tom is supposed to keep the parish safe from the Devil for another 12 months. | ||
Quote of the Day
 | Dignify and glorify common labor. ... It is at the bottom of life that we must begin, not at the top.
Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)
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