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Today in context,
February 25, 2021
Marcos Flees the Philippines
February 25 marks the 35th anniversary of the collapse of the Marcos regime and the restoration of democracy in the Philippines.
Who was Ferdinand Marcos?
Marcos ruled the Philippines for two decades, exercising authoritarian power, looting government coffers, and undermining democratic processes.
Did his wife really have 3,000 pairs of shoes?
Imelda’s shrine to footwear came to embody the excess and corruption of the Marcos regime.
What brought down the Marcos regime?
After Marcos claimed victory in a rigged election, the military withdrew its support for the regime, and Corazon Aquino’s People Power movement forced Marcos to flee the country.
The assassination that signaled the end
Benigno Aquino was murdered by Marcos’s military within minutes of returning to the Philippines in 1983.
A family affair
Filipino politics are intensely dynastic; Corazon and Benigno’s son was elected president, and two of Ferdinand and Imelda’s children returned from exile to serve as senators.
Renoir’s Harsh Side?
The French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born February 25, 1841. He is best known for his association with the Impressionist movement, and his early works were typical snapshots of 19th-century middle-class life, full of sparkling colour and light. In the mid-1880s, however, Renoir broke with the movement and began applying a more formal technique, embracing the color black and emphasizing line rather than brushstroke. Most of his works after 1883 are so marked by this new discipline that art historians group them under the “harsh,” or “dry,” period.
Impressionism
article / Visual Arts
Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection, 1933.1158/Photography ? The Art Institute of Chicago
Which Artist Attached a Paintbrush to His Hand?
Quiz / Visual Arts
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection, 1933.455/Photography ? The Art Institute of Chicago
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So far there have been five notable mass extinctions on Earth. A growing number of scientists argue that we’re now in the midst of a sixth. Postcards from the 6th Mass Extinction is a podcast hosted by John P. Rafferty that attempts to personalize extinction, emphasizing the survival challenges that familiar forms of life currently face, while at the same time considering the pivotal roles they play in their own ecosystems.

On This Day
Hear the stories that propelled us to the present day through insights that lend perspective to our world with a nod to our own humanity. Britannica media editor Kurt Heintz, together with Emily Goldstein and Meg Matthias, is on a mission to spotlight poignant and noteworthy events for every day of the year.
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The duchess formerly known as Meghan Markle put her acting career on hold when she married Prince Harry, Charles and Diana’s younger son.
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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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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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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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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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Aristotle
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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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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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