Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, August 10, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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cantankerous
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Stative VerbsStative verbs (also known as state verbs) are verbs that describe a static condition, situation, or state of being. They are contrasted with action verbs. What forms of verb tenses generally are not formed with stative verbs? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Dunbar's NumberBefore there was Facebook, British anthropologist Robin Dunbar proposed a cognitive limit to the number of meaningful social relationships one can have. Through his research on primates and ancient hunter-gatherer societies, he concluded that brain size, specifically the size of the neocortex, dictates the maximum size of one's social group. Primates create intimacy by picking parasites off each other, while humans rely on language. How many social relationships does Dunbar believe one can have? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 "Son of Sam" Serial Killer Arrested (1977)Between 1976 and 1977, New York City was terrorized by a serial killer—later identified as David Berkowitz—who called himself the "Son of Sam" in letters to police. After his arrest in August 1977, Berkowitz confessed to killing six people and wounding seven others in the course of eight shootings. Berkowitz later claimed that he was commanded to kill by a demon who possessed his neighbor's dog. Why did thousands of women in New York cut or dye their hair when the perpetrator was still at large? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender (1909)Few people in recent history have transformed popular music—rock and roll in particular—the way Leo Fender did. A self-taught radio repairman, Fender began inventing electronic instruments in the 1940s and is responsible for the first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar, the first widely used electric bass, and many other revolutionary instruments. His Fender Musical Instruments Corporation remains a leading manufacturer of electronic instruments and amplifiers. What are Fender "Nocasters"? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 To the boy of twenty it seems impossible that he will not love as wildly at sixty as he does then ... His love will never fall, whoever else's may. Nobody ever loved as he loves, and so, of course, the rest of the world's experience can be no guide in his case.Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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Kodak moment— A particularly poignant, memorable, or emotionally touching moment or event, i.e., one that would be well-suited to be captured in a photograph. Taken from an advertising slogan for Eastman Kodak photographic film and cameras. Sometimes used ironically or satirically. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Ecuador Independence Day (2023)Independence Day, or National Day, in Ecuador celebrates its independence movement of 1809. Freedom from Spanish rule was finally achieved on May 24, 1822. (That event is commemorated each year on May 24 with another holiday called Battle of Pichincha Day.) Patriotic festivities are held throughout the country, but particularly in the colorful capital city of Quito. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: messengerapostle - Comes from Greek apostolos, "messenger." More... bode - Boda is messenger in Germanic, hence "bode"; at first, a bode was a command—then an omen or premonition. More... enunciate - Derives from Latin nuntius, "messenger." More... angel - The word angel was one of the earliest Germanic adoptions from Latin; originally from Greek aggelos, "messenger," it first meant "hireling" or "messenger." More... | |