Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, October 22, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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gauche
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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ClausesClauses are groups of words that contain both a subject and a predicate. There are two main types of clauses: independent clauses and dependent clauses. What is another name for a dependent clause? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Wujing ZongyaoChinese scholars completed the Wujing Zongyao in 1044 under orders from Emperor Renzong. A military compendium detailing techniques for warfare, it includes the earliest known gunpowder formulas. The Chinese initially used gunpowder to make firecrackers, but they soon took it onto the battlefield. The Wujing Zongyao gives instructions for creating a bomb that is launched from a catapult as well as for a poison-smoke bomb. It also describes a primitive version of what modern weapon? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Jean-Paul Sartre Refuses the Nobel Prize (1964)A French philosopher, playwright, and novelist, Sartre was a leading exponent of 20th-century existentialism. His works examine man as a responsible but lonely being, burdened with a terrifying freedom to choose, adrift in a meaningless universe. He served in the army during World War II, was taken prisoner, escaped, and was involved in the resistance, writing his first plays during the occupation. After the war, his writings became increasingly influential. Why did he refuse the Nobel Prize? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Robert Rauschenberg (1925)One of contemporary American art's most prolific and influential figures, Rauschenberg was a painter whose three-dimensional collages, known as "combines," incorporated objects—such as soda bottles and stuffed birds—and anticipated the emerging pop art movement, of which he became a pivotal figure. He later used silk-screening to transfer images from print media to canvas. What did Rauschenberg submit to a gallery exhibition for which artists were asked to create portraits of the gallery owner? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 When I talk of eyes, the stars come out! Whose eyes are they? If they are angels' eyes, why do they look down here and see good men hurt, and only wink and sparkle all the night?Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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chafe at the bit— To be impatient and/or eager for something to happen or over some delay. Used to liken someone to an overexcited horse straining against its bit (the metal piece of the harness that fits between its jaws). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Hi Matsuri (2023)On the evening of October 22, people light bonfires along the narrow street leading to the Kuramadera Shrine in Kurama, a village in the mountains north of Kyoto, Japan. Fire is a purifying element according to Shinto teachings, and the village is believed to be protected from accidents on this night. Soon after dusk, torches are lit. Even babies are allowed to carry tiny torches made of twigs, while young men carry torches so large it sometimes takes several men to keep them upright. Everyone chants "Sai-rei! Sai-ryo!" ("Festival, good festival!") as they walk through the streets. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: reptilereptile, amphibian - A reptile has dry, scaly skin, while an amphibian has moist skin. More... herptile - Another word for reptile or amphibian. More... spear - The sting of a reptile or insect. More... herpetology - The branch of zoology dealing with amphibians and reptiles, based on Greek herpeton, "creeping thing." More... | |