Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, July 4, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining the Imperfective AspectAs there is no separate verb form in English for the imperfective aspect, it is expressed through different grammatical structures, which change depending on what we are saying about the temporal structure of the action. We sometimes classify these structures as what two subclasses of the imperfective? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The O'Neill CylinderWhile teaching physics at Princeton University in 1969, Gerard K. O'Neill asked his students to design large, theoretical structures suitable for space. Their proposals led him to publish the first concept for what came to be known as the "O'Neill cylinder" in 1974 in Physics Today and to revisit the idea in his book, The High Frontier. O'Neill's design incorporates areas for human habitation, farming, and manufacturing. What feature allows occupants to experience gravity? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Henry David Thoreau Begins Two Years of Simple Living (1845)In 1845, Thoreau, an American author and naturalist, built himself a cabin on the shore of Walden Pond in Massachusetts. He spent the next two years, two months, and two days there, observing nature, reading, and writing. He also kept a journal that he later used to write his masterpiece, Walden, or Life in the Woods, which compresses his time there into a single calendar year and uses the passage of the seasons to symbolize human development. What were Thoreau's enigmatic last words? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Meyer Lansky (1902)Lansky was a Russian-born US gangster. After partnering with Bugsy Siegel as a young man, he joined Lucky Luciano in forming a national crime syndicate. By 1936, he ran gambling operations in Cuba and the US, and by 1970, he had amassed a fortune estimated at $300 million. In 1979, a government investigation linked Lansky with Jack Ruby, the nightclub owner who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of President John F. Kennedy. In what wartime effort did Lansky partner with the US government? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Hobbes clearly proves that every creatureLives in a state of war by nature. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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grease payment— A sum of money, typically a bribe, paid to a government official or business person so as to facilitate or expedite some decision or transaction. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Fourth of July (Aalborg, Denmark) (2023)The Fourth of July celebration held in Aalborg, Denmark, each year since 1912 was started by Dr. Max Henius of Chicago. He bought 200 acres of land in Rebild and deeded the land to King Christian X, with the stipulation that his fellow Danish Americans be allowed to celebrate the Fourth of July there every year. The area is now a national park, and about 35,000 people come to observe America's Independence Day. A replica of the Liberty Bell is rung, the national anthems of both countries are sung, and there are bilingual readings of the Declaration of Independence. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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