Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, February 13, 2023)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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milium
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using "Could" to Ask for PermissionWhen we ask someone for permission to do something, it is often considered more polite to use "could" instead of "can." However, we can only make this substitution in what situation? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 West Nile VirusWest Nile virus is mainly found in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, and typically infects birds. Mosquitoes that have fed on infected birds can then transmit the disease to humans. About one-fifth of humans infected with the virus develop West Nile fever, which is sometimes accompanied by a rash. Less than one percent of all persons infected develop serious illnesses like encephalitis and meningitis. West Nile virus was first identified in Uganda in 1937. When did it reach the US? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Thomas Edison Observes the Edison Effect (1880)Known as "the Edison Effect," thermionic emission is the emission of electrons or ions by substances that are highly heated. The charged particles that are emitted are called thermions, and their number rapidly increases with the temperature of the substance. If the heated substance that emits thermions carries a charge, the thermions will carry the same charge. The effect was observed by Edison in 1883 when he was working on what invention? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Sir Joseph Banks (1743)Banks was a British naturalist, botanist, and patron of the sciences. After inheriting a large fortune in his early 20s, he began traveling extensively, collecting plant and natural history specimens. He outfitted and accompanied James Cook's voyage around the world, during which time he collected many biological specimens that had never before been classified. His herbarium, one of the most important in existence, and library are now at the British Museum. What plant genus was named after him? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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the honest truth— The sincere, unadulterated truth. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Parentalia (2024)This was an ancient Roman festival held in honor of the manes, or souls of the dead—in particular, deceased relatives. It began a season for remembering the dead, which ended with the Feralia on February 21. This week was a quiet, serious occasion, without the rowdiness that characterized other Roman festivals. Everything, including the temples, closed down, and people decorated graves with flowers and left food—sometimes elaborate banquets—in the cemeteries in the belief that it would be eaten by the spirits of the deceased. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: securityhostage - First referred to the state of someone handed over as a pledge or security (for the fulfillment of an undertaking). More... policy - Meaning "insurance document," it is from a French word meaning "certificate, contract," from an earlier Latin word meaning "a receipt or security for money paid." More... impignorate, pignorate - To impignorate or pignorate means to put up as security or to pawn. More... wage, wager - Wage once meant "pledge, security" and wager was defined as "solemn pledge" or "undertaking," from French wagier, "to pledge." More... | |