Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, July 20, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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fizzle
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining the Question MarkQuestion marks ( ? ) are used to identify sentences that ask a question (technically known as "interrogative sentences"). Where do question marks almost always appear in a sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 MethamphetamineMethamphetamine, a psychostimulant that was first synthesized in 1893, was widely used by German soldiers during WWII. Physicians prescribe it as a treatment for hyperactivity, narcolepsy, and obesity, but it is often used illegally because it produces euphoria and suppresses appetite. However, a number of negative side effects may also result from its use, including the development of obsessions with repetitive tasks, skin picking compulsions, and amphetamine psychosis. What is "meth mouth"? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Colombia Declares Independence from Spain (1810)From the 16th century, present-day Colombia formed the nucleus of the region that Spanish conquistadors called New Granada. In the early 1800s, people like Antonio Nariño began agitating for independence. A prominent early revolutionary leader, Nariño helped foment rebellion by distributing The Declaration of the Rights of Man to his countrymen. Parts of Colombia threw off Spanish jurisdiction in 1810, but full independence was not secured until nine years later, under what famous revolutionary? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (1919)Hillary was a New Zealand mountaineer who, with Tenzing Norgay of Nepal, became the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1953. Following the expedition, Hillary founded the Himalayan Trust, which built many schools and hospitals for the Sherpa people of Nepal. He continued climbing, later participated in the first crossing of Antarctica by vehicle, and even searched for the legendary abominable snowman in 1960. What unusual profession did Hillary have when not mountaineering? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Are not there little chapters in everybody's life, that seem to be nothing, and yet affect all the rest of the history?William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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Elysian Fields— A place or time of perfect, happy contentment, likened to the paradisiacal afterlife of Greek mythology. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Moon Day (2023)The first man to walk on the moon was American astronaut Neil Armstrong. On July 20, 1969, he and his fellow astronaut, Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, left the command module and landed the lunar module Eagle on the moon's Sea of Tranquility. Armstrong's first words as he stepped out on the lunar surface were heard by an estimated 600 million viewers: "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." The Apollo 11 mission was completed eight years after President John F. Kennedy told Congress he believed that the United States could put a man on the moon before the decade ended. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sequencearithmetic progression - A sequence in which each term is obtained by the addition of a constant number to the preceding term, as 1, 4, 7, 10, 13. More... initialism, alphabetism, acronym - Initialisms (sometimes called alphabetisms) are formed from the initial letters of a string of words and are pronounced as a sequence of letters, e.g. BYOB, USA, DVD. Acronyms are formed from the initial letters or parts of words in a sequence, but have the distinction of being pronounceable words, e.g. RADAR, SCUBA. More... solfeggio, gamut - Solfeggio and gamut are words formed on the sequence of musical notes. More... | |