Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, December 24, 2023)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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pourboire
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Regular and Irregular AdverbsRegular adverbs are formed by adding "-ly" (or a variation) onto the end of an adjective. Irregular adverbs are not formed from standard spelling conventions. What are the most common irregular adverbs? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Chancellor of the ExchequerThe Chancellor of the Exchequer is the UK's senior finance minister and a member of the Prime Minister's cabinet. He oversees public spending across Government departments and frames the annual budget. The office, established under Henry III, is now considered one of the four Great Offices of State. As Second Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor's official residence is 11 Downing St, next door to the home of the First Lord of the Treasury. In 1997, who actually moved into Number 11? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Fire at the US Library of Congress (1851)The Library of Congress, the national library of the US, contains more than 115 million items, including more than 18 million books, 2.5 million recordings, and 54 million manuscripts. Established in 1800 with about 740 books, the collection, which had swelled to about 55,000 volumes by 1851, was largely destroyed by a fire, the second in the library's history. The collection lost in the 1851 fire had been started with the acquisition of which statesman's personal library of 6,487 books? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. (1905)Before he became an infamously eccentric recluse, Hughes was a brilliant aviator and movie producer. At 17, he left college to take control of his late father's Hughes Tool Company, which would form the future basis for his vast fortune. After founding the Hughes Aircraft Company, he set a speed record of 352 mph (567 km/h) in a plane he designed, and in 1938, he flew around the world in a record 91 hours. A recluse in his later years, Hughes spent the last decade of his life living where? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 For our vanity is such that we hold our own characters immutable, and we are slow to acknowledge that they have changed, even for the better.E. M. Forster (1879-1970) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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hold that thought— An expression used to interrupt someone mid-speech and indicate that one's attention is being or about to be diverted. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 "Silent Night, Holy Night" Celebration (2023)"Silent Night, Holy Night" was written and composed by Franz Gruber and Father Josef Mohr. The carol was first performed on Christmas Eve, 1818, at St. Nickola Church in Oberndorf, Austria. This event is commemorated in Oberndorf, Hallein, Wagrain, Salzburg, and other towns in the state of Salzburg by holding a candlelight procession on December 24. Everyone sings the carol as they march to the church and again when they are inside. It is usually sung in various languages to honor the many nations where the birth of the Christ child is celebrated. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: thickerconcave lens, convex lens - A concave lens is thinner at the center; a convex lens is thicker at the center. More... plank, board - A plank is thicker than a board. More... clotted cream - Cream made thicker and richer by cooking. More... skin - The term for the thin, tight covering on carrots, potatoes, grapes, and peaches—but also the thicker covering of bananas and avocados. More... | |