Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, December 2, 2023)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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menagerie
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Modal Auxiliary Verbs - ShouldThe modal verb "should" is used in a variety of ways, including to politely express obligations or duties and to ask for or issue advice. Why is "should" sometimes used instead of "will" or "shall"? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 IconoclasmVeneration of pictures and statues symbolizing sacred figures and biblical events was an early feature of Christian worship. Iconoclasts were opposed to the use of such religious images and destroyed them, claiming that they violated the second commandment not to make or worship “graven images.” An iconoclastic movement developed during the Byzantine Empire, and it was characterized by fierce persecution of those who made and venerated icons. What are a few modern examples of iconoclasm? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Monroe Doctrine (1823)In his 1823 address to Congress, US President James Monroe laid out the terms of the American foreign policy that would become known as the Monroe Doctrine, effectively declaring the Western Hemisphere off-limits to European colonization. Concerned that European powers would attempt to restore Spain's former colonies, he declared that any attempt by a European power to control any nation in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as a hostile act. How was the doctrine applied during the Cold War? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Georges-Pierre Seurat (1859)Seurat was the French neoimpressionist painter who devised pointillism, the technique of juxtaposing tiny brushstrokes of contrasting colors. He used this method to create huge compositions, including his masterpiece, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. One of the most intellectual artists of his time, Seurat influenced a return to deliberate design in painting at a time when sketching from nature had become the mode. How long did it take him to complete his masterpiece? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Teach us Delight in simple things,And Mirth that has no bitter springs; Forgiveness free of evil done, And Love to all men 'neath the sun! Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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heave into view— To move or rise into sight, especially from a distance. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 United Arab Emirates National Day (2023)This national holiday commemorates the December 2, 1971, expiration of a British treaty that inhibited self-rule for the sheikhdoms on the Persian Gulf in the eastern Arabian peninsula, and the union of seven of the sheikhdoms in the former Trucial States to become the United Arab Emirates. The Emirates' major cities celebrate National Day on December 2-3. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: raisincurrant - Developed from Middle English raison of Corauntz, "a raisin of Corinth," from where the fruit came. More... figgy pudding - From the dialect term fig, which meant "raisin." More... frail - Fifty pounds of raisins. More... passulate - To dry grapes to make raisins, from Latin passula, "raisins." More... | |