Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, February 19, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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infirmity
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Gradable AdverbsWe can only make comparisons using "gradable adverbs," meaning adverbs that are able to move up and down on a scale of intensity. The majority of adverbs are gradable. As with comparative adjectives, we can state differences in scale by using what words and phrases before the comparative adverb? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Lechuguilla CaveLong thought to be an insignificant, smallish cave near the famous Carlsbad Caverns, Lechuguilla Cave is now recognized as the deepest limestone cave in the US and the world’s fifth longest cave. It was only in 1986 that cavers digging through rubble at the floor of the cave discovered its expansive network of more than 120 miles (193 km) of passages. The cave is famous for its rare geological beauty, featuring gypsum chandeliers, hydromagnesite balloons, helictites, soda straws, and what else? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Former US Vice President Aaron Burr Arrested for Treason (1807)Nearly three years after killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel, former US Vice President Aaron Burr was arrested on unrelated charges of treason. Though the exact details of his plan were a mystery even then, he was accused of plotting to establish an independent country of his own, possibly in the American Southwest. He was treated well while imprisoned at Fort Stoddert and was eventually acquitted, but his political career was destroyed. Which of his co-conspirators turned on him? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 André Breton (1896)Breton was a French writer, critic, and editor. In 1919, he helped found the Dadaist review Littérature. Influenced by psychiatry and the Symbolist movement, he wrote poetry using the automatic-writing technique. In 1924, his Manifeste du surréalisme—Surrealist Manifesto—provided a definition of Surrealism as "pure psychic automatism." In 1938, he penned the manifesto Pour un art révolutionnaire indépendant with what one-time commander of the Red Army? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It seems as if an age of genius must be succeeded by an age of endeavor; riot and extravagance by cleanliness and hard work.Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be (someone's) huckleberry— dated To be well or perfectly suited to someone's job, need, or purpose. Primarily heard in US. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin (2024)On February 19, 1942, Japanese bomber and fighter planes conducted a devastating air raid on the town of Darwin, the capital city of Australia's Northern Territory. As a tribute to honor the dead and those who defended Darwin, an annual commemoration is held in Bicentennial Park by the Cenotaph, a monument to those slain in World War I. At 9:58, the exact time the attack began, a World War II air raid siren sounds. During some observances, Australian regiments will reenact the attack: ground units fire their guns, and fighter planes perform fly-bys over the memorial site. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: manuscriptacephalous - A manuscript lacking a beginning could be called acephalous. More... autograph - Comes from Greek, then Latin autographum, meaning "self-written"; it originally meant "author's own manuscript." More... manuscript - Originally an adjective meaning "written by hand"; manuscript can refer to a handwritten piece of music. More... palimpsest - Can describe a manuscript or writing surface that has been reused, erased, or altered while retaining traces of its earlier form—and, by extension, an object, place, or area that reflects its history. More... | |