Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, February 19, 2022)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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besmirch
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Gradable AdverbsWe can only make comparisons using "gradable adverbs," meaning adverbs that are able to move up and down on a scale of intensity. The majority of adverbs are gradable. As with comparative adjectives, we can state differences in scale by using what words and phrases before the comparative adverb? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Arrow of TimeTime is not perfectly symmetrical—if it were, a video of real events would seem realistic whether played forward or backward. British astronomer Arthur Eddington explored time's perpetually forward motion with his "arrow of time" concept, developed around 1927. The arrow of time explains why humans have the sense that time is continuously moving from the known past to the unknown future. Though the future always seems to be something that one is moving toward, what is it really? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Battle of Iwo Jima Begins (1945)The island of Iwo Jima is only 8 sq mi (21 sq km) in area, but when US forces attacked the Japanese air base there during WWII, it became the site of one of the most severe campaigns of the war. More than 21,000 Japanese troops and nearly 7,000 Americans died in the clashes. A photograph of US marines raising the American flag over Iwo Jima's Mt. Suribachi has since become one of the most famous images of the war. What was the US operation in Iwo Jima called? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 André Breton (1896)Breton was a French writer, critic, and editor. In 1919, he helped found the Dadaist review Littérature. Influenced by psychiatry and the Symbolist movement, he wrote poetry using the automatic-writing technique. In 1924, his Manifeste du surréalisme—Surrealist Manifesto—provided a definition of Surrealism as "pure psychic automatism." In 1938, he penned the manifesto Pour un art révolutionnaire indépendant with what one-time commander of the Red Army? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Life should begin with age and its privileges and accumulations, and end with youth and its capacity to splendidly enjoy such advantages.Mark Twain (1835-1910) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be (someone's) huckleberry— dated To be well or perfectly suited to someone's job, need, or purpose. Primarily heard in US. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin (2024)On February 19, 1942, Japanese bomber and fighter planes conducted a devastating air raid on the town of Darwin, the capital city of Australia's Northern Territory. As a tribute to honor the dead and those who defended Darwin, an annual commemoration is held in Bicentennial Park by the Cenotaph, a monument to those slain in World War I. At 9:58, the exact time the attack began, a World War II air raid siren sounds. During some observances, Australian regiments will reenact the attack: ground units fire their guns, and fighter planes perform fly-bys over the memorial site. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: manuscriptacephalous - A manuscript lacking a beginning could be called acephalous. More... autograph - Comes from Greek, then Latin autographum, meaning "self-written"; it originally meant "author's own manuscript." More... manuscript - Originally an adjective meaning "written by hand"; manuscript can refer to a handwritten piece of music. More... palimpsest - Can describe a manuscript or writing surface that has been reused, erased, or altered while retaining traces of its earlier form—and, by extension, an object, place, or area that reflects its history. More... | |