Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, September 24, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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ParticiplesParticiples are words formed from verbs that can function as adjectives or gerunds or can be used to form the continuous tenses and the perfect tenses of verbs. There are two participle forms—what are they? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Tunguska EventIn 1908, a massive aerial explosion near Siberia's Stony Tunguska River flattened 500,000 acres (2,000 sq km) of forest—felling an estimated 80 million trees over 830 sq mi (2,150 sq km) and producing a shockwave that shattered windows hundreds of miles away. Known as the Tunguska event, the explosion is thought to have measured 5.0 on the Richter scale, with an estimated energy 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. What do most scientists believe caused the event? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Secret Executive Order Allegedly Establishes Majestic 12 (1947)Majestic 12 is the purported code name of a secret committee of scientists, military leaders, and government officials supposedly formed in 1947 by an executive order of US President Harry S. Truman. A major part of alien conspiracy theories, the committee was purportedly formed to investigate the aftermath of the Roswell incident—the alleged crash of an unidentified flying object near Roswell, New Mexico. What documents have lent credence to the existence of such a committee? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825)Born free in Baltimore, Maryland—where slavery was still in place—Harper was raised by an abolitionist uncle and published her first volume of poetry when she 20 years old. In 1854, she gave her first anti-slavery lecture. Her second volume, Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects, made her the best known African-American poet of the era. Her short story, "The Two Offers," was probably the first such published work by any African American. How old was she when she published her first novel? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 There, then, he sat, the sign and symbol of a man without faith, hopelessly holding up hope in the midst of despair.Herman Melville (1819-1891) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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have it easy— To have or be in a particularly comfortable or relaxed position, such that makes for an easier life. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Festa de la Mercè (2023)Nearly 400 events celebrate the patron saint of Barcelona, La Madonna de la Mercè, each year for a few days including September 24. In years past, the Madonna's feast was observed with religious processions, but these days the processions are augmented by the city's liveliest party of the year with fireworks, street art, live music and dancing, acrobats forming human towers, and sporting events. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: shouthue and cry - Somewhat redundant, as hue means "shout, make an outcry"; hue and cry was a medieval law requiring that all citizens within earshot give chase to a fleeing criminal. More... jubilate - From a Latin word meaning "shout for joy." More... slogan - From Scottish-Gaelic slaugh, "army," and gairm, "shout"—since the first slogans were actually battle cries. More... claim - The etymological notion behind claim is "calling out," from Latin clamare, "cry out, shout." More... | |