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Today in context, October 11, 2020
Presidential Succession

Twenty-fifth Amendment
The 25th Amendment codified the specifics of U.S. presidential succession, but it also provided a plan of action in the event of the incapacitation of the president. That portion of the amendment was invoked for the first time on July 13, 1985, when George H.W. Bush served as the first “acting president” in U.S. history while Pres. Ronald Reagan was undergoing surgery to remove an intestinal polyp.

Who’s in Charge?
What happens when a U.S. president can no longer carry out the duties of the office? Learn about the surprisingly disorderly history of the presidential succession.
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Entertainment and leisure activities have been a part of all cultures in one form or another since the ancient times, whether the activity in question involved participating in a dance performance, attending a Broadway show, going to a music festival, or watching a movie.
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- Central Asian arts
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Are you Ready to Find the World's Superheroes?
This wordsearch challenge is all amazing characters...
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6 Important Women Singer-Songwriters of the 20th Century
This crossword puzzle will teach you about six important...

Planet Earth contains some extraordinarily diverse environments, some of which are easily habitable and some not so much. In different areas of Earth, one might find sweltering deserts, dense tropical rainforests, or bone-chilling tundras. Each biome and habitat comes with its own selection of flora and fauna, and it may include physical features such as canyons, volcanoes, rivers, or caves. Human beings have built homes in many different environments, settling the area and organizing it into units such as cities, states, regions, and countries, each with its own points of interest. Shifting trends in human migration have resulted in a human geography that is profoundly different from that of centuries ago.
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- Australia
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South America: Fact or Fiction?
You may know that the Amazon rainforest is located...
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Exploring Canada: Fact or Fiction?
Is Canada the world’s second-largest country? Is the...

The study of the human mind and body, how these function, and how they interact—not only with each other but also with their environment—has been of utmost importance in ensuring human well-being. Research on potential treatments and preventive medicine has expanded greatly with the development of modern medicine, and a network of disciplines, including such fields as genetics, psychology, and nutrition, aims to facilitate the betterment of our health.
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Chemoreception
physiology
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Introduction to Psychology Quiz
Psychology is a scientific discipline that studies...
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Medical Terms and Pioneers Quiz
Who discovered the major blood groups? What causes...

It's easy enough to agree that human beings all around the world have certain basic requirements that must be fulfilled in order to ensure their individual and collective well-being. History has shown us, however, that it's not so easy to form societies or communities that fulfill these requirements for all members. The fight over human and civil rights has persisted for hundreds of years and remains alive today, both within the borders of nations and on an international scale. It has led to large-scale social movements and reforms concerning issues such as suffrage, slavery, women's rights, racial discrimination, environmentalism, gay rights, and more.
Featured
- Anthropology
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7 Bizarre Spa Treatments
Beauty may be skin deep, but the lengths we go to to...
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7 Winter Solstice Celebrations From Around the World
Make Midwinter merry by learning some new traditions.

With the development of language, the human imagination has found a way to create and communicate through the written word. A literary work can transport us into a fictional, fantastic new world, describe a fleeting feeling, or simply give us a picture of the past through novels, poems, tragedies, epic works, and other genres. Through literature, communication becomes an art, and it can bridge and bond people and cultures of different languages and backgrounds.
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- Folk literature
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Word Nerd: Fact or Fiction?
You love words. You adore alliteration. And you chortle...
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Literary Favorites: Fact or Fiction?
Love literature? This quiz sorts out the truth about...

Humans have long pondered not only how we came to be but also why we came to be. The earliest Greek philosophers focused their attention upon the origin and nature of the physical world; later philosophers have theorized about the nature of knowledge, truth, good and evil, love, friendship, and much more. Thus, philosophy involves a methodical assessment of any and all aspects of human existence and experience. The realms of philosophy and religion have sometimes intersected in conducting inquiries such as these. As with philosophy, the study of religion underscores how humankind has long speculated about its origins. The possibility of a higher being (or beings) to which livings things owe their existence has long captived human thought. Many religions also offer their own views on the nature of good and evil, and they may prescribe guidelines and judgment on different kinds of human behavior.
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Linguistics
science
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Saints
We can’t promise you a sainthood, but improve your...
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Hinduism
Hinduism is one of the most popular religions on Earth....

The world today is divided territorially into more than 190 countries, each of which possesses a national government that claims to exercise sovereignty and seeks to compel obedience to its will by its citizens. Governments can be classified in any number of ways. For example, they might be classified by the number of rulers, thus distinguishing government by one (as in a monarchy or a tyranny) from government by the few (in an aristocracy or oligarchy) and from government by the many (as in a democracy). Governments can also be classified by mode of succession; for example, ascension to governmental leadership may follow the rules of hereditary succession, or it may be determined through elections or by force. Governments also vary in terms of the laws and rules of conduct that each political entity follows.
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- Industrial relations
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12 Quotes from U.S. Presidential Debates: A Quiz
Debates have been a high-profile component of U.S....
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A Brief and Sometimes Unexpected History of the Kings and Queens of Britain
Throughout history, British royals have been up to...

How can the sky be blue one day and stormy the next? Why do heavy objects tend to fall downwards when dropped? How are birds able to fly (and why can’t I do the same?)? Human beings have long been curious about the world in which we live, striving to identify connections among the phenomenons we witness and to understand how it all works. The field of science has developed over many centuries as a way of studying and understanding the world, beginning with the primitive stage of simply noting important regularities in nature and continuing through the rise of modern science. The modern-day sciences cover a vast range of fields, including biology, chemistry, meteorology, astronomy, physics, and much more.
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- Astronomy
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Freaky Fluorescent Frog Found
Scientists have discovered the first known species...
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How Albert Einstein Developed the Theory of General Relativity
Learn how one of history’s greatest minds came up with...

Physical contests and recreational games have long played a part in human society. In both team and solo sports, the human body has been pushed to its limits in the name of improving athletic performance and to break record upon record. The ancient Olympic Games are an early example of the contests in which humans have engaged to showcase physical prowess. In modern times, sports and games have evolved into a lucrative and competitive industry, while other leisure activities, such as card and video games, can be competitive or can just be a way to unwind or socialize.
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Bridge
card game
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Batter Up
You may be familiar with Hank Aaron and Willie Mays,...
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Ready, Set, Know!
What raced in the first Grand Prix? What races in a...

Humankind has long striven to improve its living conditions through the development of tools, instruments, and transportation and communications systems, all with the goal of making our lives easier, more productive and—why not—more fun, too! Thanks to human curiosity and technological research, many significant inventions have been made throughout history that in turn made a difference in our daily lives.
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- Aerospace industry
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What’s the Difference Between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi?
If you have a smartphone, laptop, tablet, or similar...
- Did Jules Verne Invent the Submarine?

These are the arts that meet the eye and evoke an emotion through an expression of skill and imagination. They include the most ancient forms, such as painting and drawing, and the arts that were born thanks to the development of technology, like sculpture, printmaking, photography, and installation art, the latter a combination of multiple creative expressions. Though beauty is in the eye of the beholder, different eras in art history have had their own principles to define beauty, from the richly ornamented taste of the Baroque to the simple, utilitarian style of the Prairie School.
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- Architecture
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Textiles and Design Quiz
How much do you know about the history of bell-bottoms?...
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Everything in Art and Design (Part One) Quiz
Want to learn a little about nearly everything in art...

Does history really repeat itself, or can we learn from the mistakes of those who came before us? History provides a chronological, statistical, and cultural record of the events, people, and movements that have made an impact on humankind and the world at large throughout the ages. Investigating the causes and results of past events is critically important in gaining a full understanding and perspective of present-day issues.
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Thirty Years' War
European history
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Exploring Latin America: Fact or Fiction?
Did Chile gain its independence in 1818? Did the Incan...
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Submarines, Ships, and other Watercraft: Fact or Fiction?
Has a naval vessel reached depths of more than 10,000...
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