Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, May 12, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Negative Adverbs Meaning "Not Often" or "Not Ever"Negative adverbs and negative adverbials are used to modify the meaning of a verb, adjective, other adverb, or entire clause in a negative way. When we want to stress how infrequently something occurs, what negative adverbs can we use? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 GerontocracyA gerontocracy is system of oligarchical rule in which leaders are significantly older than most of the adult population. In gerontocracies, political power often accumulates with age. While those holding the most power may not hold formal positions, they often dominate those who do. Such forms of rule are common in communist states where the length of one's service to the party is among the main qualifications for leadership. In what works of fiction have gerontocracies been depicted? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 North American Aerospace Defense Command Founded (1958)North American Aerospace Defense Command, commonly abbreviated NORAD, is a bi-national command of the US and Canada that maintains the sovereignty of North American airspace by providing aerospace surveillance as well as warning and assessment of aerospace attacks. Headquartered deep inside Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado, NORAD was formed in 1958 during the Cold War to provide security in the event of a Soviet nuclear attack. What false alarms have occurred since its inception? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (1910)Hodgkin developed a passion for chemistry at an early age and went on to become a leader in the field of X-ray crystallography. In 1948, she and her colleagues made the first X-ray photograph of vitamin B12—one of the most complex nonprotein compounds—and eventually determined its atomic arrangement. Her work in determining its structure, as well as that of other biochemical compounds, won her a 1964 Nobel Prize. In 1969, Hodgkin completed a similar three-dimensional analysis of what hormone? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.Washington Irving (1783-1859) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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don't shoot the messenger— Don't get angry at or punish someone who is simply delivering bad or undesirable news, as he or she is not responsible for it. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Boston Pops (2024)Henry Lee Higginson, who established the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1881, believed that in the summer, "concerts of a lighter kind of music" should be presented. People began to refer fondly to these summer concerts as "the Pops," a name which became official in 1900. The Boston Pops tailors its programs around American music and musicians, medleys of popular songs, and familiar movements of classical works. Outside of its official concert season at Symphony Hall, where it performs through May and June, the Pops also tours the United States. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: softenemollient, emolliate - Emollient is from Latin emolliere, "to soften"; to emolliate is to soften or make effeminate. More... macerate - Meaning "to soften," it comes from Greek massein, "knead." More... lenify, lenity - To lenify is to alleviate or soothe an emotion or suffering, from Latin lenire, "soften"; lenity means kindness or gentleness. More... amalgamate - Seems to go back to Greek malagma, "softening." More... | |