Learning Skills

Article of the day for March 2, 2020 is Palmyra . Palmyra is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Inhabited since the Neolithic period, it entered recorded history in the early second millennium BC. Palmyra became part of the Roman Empire in the first century AD. Palmyrene merchants established colonies along the Silk Road and the city grew wealthy from trade caravans. Many monumental projects were erected, such as the Great Colonnade, the Temple of Bel, and distinctive tower tombs. Palmyra reached the apex of its power in the 260s, when its king Odaenathus defeated the Persian emperor Shapur I. After Odaenathus's assassination in 267, his widow Zenobia rebelled against Rome and conquered the Roman East. Palmyra was destroyed in 273 by the Roman emperor Aurelian. Restored on a smaller scale, it remained a minor trading center until it was sacked by the Timurids in 1400 and became a small village. During the Syrian civil war in 2015, the Islamic State of Iraq an...

With a high of 66F and a low of 47F.

Article of the day for March 1, 2020 is König-class battleship . The König class was a group of four battleships built for the Imperial German Navy on the eve of World War I. The class was composed of König, Grosser Kurfürst, Markgraf, and Kronprinz (pictured). The Königs were an improvement over the preceding Kaiser class, mounting ten 30.5 cm (12 in) SK L/50 guns in five twin turrets. Two turrets were mounted forward of the main superstructure in a superfiring pair, the third was placed on the centerline amidships, and the fourth and fifth turrets were aft, also in a superfiring pair. This allowed all 10 guns to fire in a large arc. The most powerful warships of the German High Seas Fleet at the outbreak of war in 1914, the class operated as a unit throughout World War I. The ships took part in the Battle of Jutland, where they acted as the German vanguard. They survived the war and were interned at Scapa Flow in November 1918. All four ships were scuttled o...

With a high of 66F and a low of 45F.

By BY JUNOT DÍAZ from NYT Books https://ift.tt/2T8dZ9R

Article of the day for February 29, 2020 is Zoo TV Tour . The Zoo TV Tour (29 February 1992 – 10 December 1993) was a concert tour by Irish rock band U2. Supporting their 1991 album Achtung Baby, the tour visited North America, Europe, Oceania, and Japan. In contrast to U2's previously austere stage setups, Zoo TV shows were elaborate multimedia events, satirising television and media oversaturation by attempting to instill sensory overload in the audience. The stages featured dozens of video screens as well as Trabants as lighting fixtures. Concerts included channel surfing, prank calls, a belly dancer, and transmissions from war-torn Sarajevo. On stage, Bono portrayed characters such as "The Fly" (pictured), "Mirror Ball Man", and "MacPhisto". Zoo TV was the highest-grossing North American tour of 1992 and sold 5.3 million tickets overall. Continuing their 1990s reinvention that began with Achtung Baby and Zoo TV, U2 recorded the album Zooropa duri...

By Unknown Author from NYT Books https://ift.tt/2I60ml6