Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, December 21, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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extempore
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Past Perfect Continuous TenseThe past perfect continuous tense is used to describe an action that began and was still in progress in the past before another past action started. How does it differ from the past perfect tense? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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.jpg) Faraday CagesIn 1836, scientist Michael Faraday observed that a charge on a conductor resides only on its surface and does not impact anything enclosed within. To demonstrate this, he coated a room with metal foil, had high-voltage discharges strike its exterior, and showed with an electroscope that no electric charge reached the interior. Today, any container made of a conductor that shields its interior from electric fields is called a Faraday cage. What common modes of transportation act as Faraday cages? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Marie and Pierre Curie Discover Radium (1898)Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie were working with pitchblende, a heavy mineral known to contain the radioactive element uranium, when they noticed something unusual. Somehow, the pitchblende was more radioactive than the uranium it contained. The culprit was radium, a previously unknown element present in pitchblende only in trace amounts—yet more than a million times more radioactive than uranium. What common household products contained radium until it was discovered to be dangerous? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Frank Zappa (1940)Zappa was a prolific and highly distinctive guitarist, composer, and songwriter. His career spanned more than 30 years and encompassed a variety of genres, including rock, jazz, and classical. He released the groundbreaking double album Freak Out! with the Mothers of Invention in 1966. With its raw sound, sophisticated arrangements, and lyrics praising nonconformity, the album immediately established Zappa as a radical new voice in rock music. What unusual names did he give his children? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The latter part of a wise man's life is taken up in curing the follies, prejudices, and false opinions he had contracted in the former.Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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scooch over— To move slightly to the side, especially while seated. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 St. Thomas's Day (Episcopal Church) (2023)St. Thomas the Apostle was dubbed "Doubting Thomas" because, after the Resurrection, the other Apostles told him that they had seen Jesus, and he wouldn't believe them until he had touched Jesus' wounds himself. When the Apostles left Jerusalem to preach to the people of other nations, as Jesus had instructed them to do, tradition says Thomas traveled eastward toward India. In Kerala, the smallest state in India, the Malabar Christians claim St. Thomas as the founder of their church. For them, his feast day is a major celebration. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: specializingcreperie - A restaurant specializing in crepes. More... abandannad - A pickpocket specializing in bandannas or handkerchiefs. More... cinematheque - A small movie theater specializing in art or classic films. More... academic press - Also called a university press; a publishing house associated with a university or other scholarly institution, specializing in the publication of scholarly books and journals, particularly works written by its faculty. More... | |