Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, September 11, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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pedantic
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Adjective ComplementsAn adjective complement is a phrase or clause that provides information necessary to complete an adjective phrase’s meaning. Adjective complements are similar to but distinct from modifiers of adjectives. How do they differ? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Prince Rupert's DropsPrince Rupert's Drops are formed when molten glass is dripped into cold water. The glass forms a tadpole-shaped droplet with a long, thin tail, and when the inside cools, it contracts, pressing against the already-solid outer part. Due to the residual stress, the extremely hard bulbous part can withstand a blow from a hammer, but if the tail is damaged even slightly, the entire drop shatters explosively into a fine powder. Prince Rupert did not invent the drops, so why are they named for him? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 9/11 Terrorist Attacks (2001)On September 11, 2001, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes. They crashed two planes into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York City and flew a third into the Pentagon building in Virginia. Passengers on the fourth flight attempted to retake control of the aircraft, but it crashed in a Pennsylvania field. The devastating terrorist attacks of 9/11 were responsible for 2,996 deaths and countless more injuries. What were the environmental consequences of 9/11? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 O. Henry (1862)O. Henry was the pseudonym of American short-story writer William Sydney Porter. As a young man, he wrote for newspapers and worked as a bank teller in Texas, where he was convicted of embezzlement. Although many people believed him innocent, he fled to Honduras. He soon returned, however, when his wife became fatally ill. He eventually served three years in prison, during which time he began writing short stories noted for their surprise endings. What was the origin of his pen name? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.Mark Twain (1835-1910) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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have a mountain to climb— To have an extremely difficult, seemingly impossible task at hand. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Coptic New Year (Feast of El-Nayrouz) (2023)Members of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the native Christian church in Egypt, celebrate the New Year on September 11 because it is the day on which the Dog Star, Sirius, rises in the Egyptian sky, announcing the flooding of the Nile and the new planting season. To commemorate the martyrs of the church, red vestments and altar clothes are used on this day. A food of special significance on this day is the red date: red recalls the martyrs' blood, the light-colored flesh of the date symbolizes their purity, and the stony pit symbolizes their steadfast faith. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sweetheartvalentine - Formerly a person chosen as a sweetheart or special friend, named for either of two Italian saints. More... bully - First meant lover or sweetheart, then fine fellow, then blusterer, then "person who harms or threatens weaker people." More... leman - An old word for "sweetheart, lover." More... piggesnye - An old term of endearment for one's sweetheart, literally "a darling pig's eye." More... | |