Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, January 23, 2022)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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vendetta
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Evaluative AdverbsEvaluative adverbs are used by the speaker to comment or give an opinion on something. They modify the entire clause. What are the types of evaluative adjectives? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The St. Augustine MonsterWhen a large carcass washed ashore on the coast near St. Augustine, Florida, tales of the "St. Augustine Monster" were born. Two boys on bicycles first spotted the carcass on the evening of November 30, 1896, and reported their discovery to local physician DeWitt Webb. Webb determined that the carcass was at least 18 feet (5 m) long and estimated its weight at nearly 5 tons, if not more. Webb believed it was the remains of a giant octopus, but what has more recent analysis concluded? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Elva Zona Heaster Discovered Dead (1897)Shortly after marrying drifter Erasmus Shue, Heaster was found dead and was soon buried. Her mother, who suspected foul play, claimed to have had a vision in which her daughter's ghost stated that Shue had broken her neck, killing her. When the body was exhumed, an autopsy confirmed that Heaster's neck had been broken, and Shue was tried for murder. What role did the ghost—since known as the Greenbrier Ghost for Heaster's hometown of Greenbrier County, West Virginia—play in the trial? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Édouard Manet (1832)One of the foremost French artists of the 19th century, Manet is often regarded as the father of modern painting. Rebelling against the academic tradition, he developed a realist style that was one of the founding forces of Impressionism. Although his talent is recognized today, Manet was often greeted with harsh criticism during his career, including for his paintings Le déjeuner sur l'herbe—The Luncheon on the Grass—and Olympia. Why were the paintings controversial? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 If a man means to be hard, let him keep in his saddle and speak from that height, above the level of pleading eyes, and with the command of a distant horizon.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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barrel of laughs— Fun, funny, and pleasant. Often used sarcastically to indicate that someone is unpleasant or not enjoyable to be around. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 San Ildefonso Pueblo Feast Day (2024)These late-January festivities mark a highlight in the ceremonial year at San Ildefonso Pueblo near Santa Fe, New Mexico. January 23 is the pueblo's feast day, celebrated with a special church service and dances, such as the Buffalo, Comanche, and Deer dances. The dances are a way of paying respect and giving thanks for the animals on which people depend for food and other materials. On the evening before, there are bonfires and a firelight procession. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: tribelow man - On an actual totem pole, it is really the most important man in the tribe. More... tribe - From Latin tribus, it may refer to the three divisions of early Romans, the Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans. More... tribunal - Originally referred to a seat or raised platform for judges, from Latin tribunus, "head of a tribe." More... cannibal - When Columbus was trying to find the Spice Islands, he was told of a tribe of man-eating natives in Cuba and Haiti called Caribs (from which we get Caribbean) or Caniba (Columbus' rendition of the name); the word canib, meaning "brave and fierce," became cannibal, meaning "anthropophagite," a person who eats human flesh. More... | |