Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, April 27, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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artificer
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Idioms that End with PrepositionsIdioms that end with prepositions are typically phrasal verbs. They consist of a verb followed by what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 WagonwaysThe idea of using "tracked" roads dates back millennia. In the US and England, the first railroads employed not locomotives but horse-drawn wagons, which were used to haul minerals on the tracks. In 1829, locomotives were imported to the US from England, but they were found to be too heavy for the existing tracks. However, steam powered railroads soon grew to dominate the transportation of cargo. How did horses continue to be used by railroads after the advent of steam locomotives? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Sierra Leone Granted Independence from the UK (1961)The capital of Sierra Leone, Freetown, was founded on the coast of West Africa by British abolitionists in 1787 as a haven for freed and runaway slaves. It became a British colony in 1808, and the region became a British protectorate in 1896. It achieved independence in 1961 and became a republic 10 years later, but with independence came a series of military coups. An 11-year civil war marked by horrific atrocities further devastated the country and ended in 2002. What has occurred since then? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Herbert Spencer (1820)Admired by some and loathed by others, Spencer was one of the most discussed Victorian thinkers. An English sociologist and philosopher, he was an advocate of the theory of social Darwinism. In his vast, multi-volume System of Synthetic Philosophy, he held that the physical, organic, and social realms are interconnected and develop according to identical evolutionary principles. To describe his theory of sociocultural evolution, he coined what well-known phrase? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Trusting no man as his friend, he could not recognize his enemy when the latter actually appeared.Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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keep (someone) in the loop— To keep someone informed about and/or involved in something, such as a plan or project, especially that which involves or pertains to a specific group. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 South Africa Freedom Day (2024)On April 27, 1994, the Republic of South Africa held its first democratic elections. The African National Congress (ANC) won the election, bringing with it socio-economic change that improved the lives of all South Africans, especially the poor. Every year, South Africa celebrates Freedom Day, a public holiday that commemorates the anniversary of the historic day in 1994. Special cultural events and exhibitions are held in various venues around Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa, and other locations around the country. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: slimeasphalt - Its synonyms are mineral pitch, Jews' pitch, and slime. More... ooze - As in mud or slime, it traces back to an Old Norse word meaning "puddle, stagnant pool," and originally meant juice or sap from a plant or fruit. More... slime - Related to Latin limus, "mud, slime." More... mucous, mucus - Mucous is the adjective from Latin meaning "slimy," and mucus is the noun from Latin but cognate with Greek mussesthai, "blow the nose." More... | |