Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, March 16, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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urbane
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using Commas with Long NumbersIt is standard practice to add one or more commas to long numbers to make them easier to read. What are commas used in this way technically known as? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 ColchisColchis was an ancient country situated on the eastern shore of the Black Sea in what is now the Republic of Georgia. In Greek legend, it was the home of Medea and the destination of Jason and the Argonauts. Though Greek trading posts were established there with the support of the native Colchians—whose ethnic composition is unclear—the land remained independent for hundreds of years. It was situated just outside of Alexander the Great's control. Who finally conquered Colchis in 100 BCE? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 My Lai Massacre (1968)During the Vietnam War, US troops searching for Viet Cong fighters massacred hundreds of civilians from the Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai. Though they had not located any insurgents in My Lai, the soldiers opened fire on the villagers, killing men, women, and children. The incident was initially covered up by army officers. When it was revealed in the press nearly two years later, it divided the US public and increased pressure to end the war. How many soldiers were convicted for their crimes? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Rosa Bonheur (1822)One of the most famous female painters of the 19th century, Bonheur was trained by her father—an art teacher—and began regularly exhibiting her work at the Paris Salon in 1841. Her unsentimental paintings of animals became very popular, particularly in England and the US, and her most famous painting, The Horse Fair, gained her an international reputation. Who gave her formal permission to dress as a man so that she could study horses at the actual Horse Fair in Paris? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 There is nothing so strange and so unbelievable that it has not been said by one philosopher or another.Rene Descartes (1596-1650) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be cleaned out— To be emptied or devoid of money, food, resources, etc. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 St. Urho's Day (2024)St. Urho, whose name in Finnish means "hero," is credited with banishing a plague of grasshoppers that was threatening Finland's grape arbors. His legend in the United States was popularized in the 1950s; after being celebrated as a "joke holiday" for several years in the Menahga-Sebeka area, the idea spread to other states with large Finnish populations. The actual celebrations include wearing St. Urho's official colors—Nile Green and Royal Purple—drinking grape juice, and chanting St. Urho's famous words, "Grasshopper, grasshopper, go away," in Finnish. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: inhabitantinfernal - An inhabitant of the underworld can be called an infernal. More... sherpa - Literally means "inhabitant of an eastern country." More... aborigine - From Classical Latin meaning "ancestors," it was spelled with a capital A as the name of the primeval Romans; the first people called aborigines were the original inhabitants of Italy and Greece and aborigine was specifically applied to the inhabitants of a country ab origine, "from the beginning." More... sylvans - Natives or inhabitants of forests or woods. More... | |