From today's featured articleHenry W. Sawyer (1918–1999) was an American lawyer, civil rights activist, and Democratic politician. Born in Philadelphia, he served in World War II and attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School. After graduating, he joined the law firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath and remained with them for his entire career. Sawyer worked as a corporate lawyer but is best known for his advocacy of civil liberties, especially in First Amendment cases. In Abington School District v. Schempp and Lemon v. Kurtzman, he successfully argued cases before the Supreme Court of the United States (building pictured) that became the basis for all modern Establishment Clause jurisprudence. He pursued civil rights causes in Philadelphia and in the South during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. He also served a four-year term on the Philadelphia City Council, where he worked on civil service reform and the acquisition of public art for the city. (Full article...)
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On this dayJuly 31: Ka Hae Hawaiʻi Day (Flag Day) and Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea (Sovereignty Restoration Day) in Hawaii
William S. Clark (b. 1826) · Fred Keenor (b. 1894) · Hilary Putnam (b. 1926) |
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A computer-generated animation showing the cardiac cycle, which is the performance of the human heart from the ending of one heartbeat to the beginning of the next. It consists of two periods: one during which the heart muscle relaxes and refills with blood, called diastole, followed by a period of robust contraction and pumping of blood, known as systole. After emptying, the heart immediately relaxes and expands to receive another influx of blood returning from the lungs and other systems of the body, before again contracting to pump blood to the lungs and those systems. A normally performing heart must be fully expanded before it can efficiently pump again. Assuming a healthy heart and a typical rate of 70 to 75 beats per minute, each cardiac cycle or heartbeat takes about 0.8 seconds to complete. Animation credit: Doctor Jana
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