Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, June 9, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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panacea
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Gradable AdjectivesWe can only use gradable adjectives as comparative adjectives. Gradable adjectives are adjectives that can move up and down on a scale of intensity. What are some examples of gradable adjectives? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 MuskUsed as a popular perfume fixative since ancient times, musk is an odorous substance obtained from a gland of the male musk deer. Its strong odor comes from the organic compound muscone. Musklike substances are also obtained from the muskrat and the civet, and even some plants yield oils that resemble musk. Since musk deer are often killed to extract the gland, ethical concerns—as well as economic ones—have led to the production of synthetic musk. Why has this also come under scrutiny recently? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Sir Charles Kingsford Smith Completes First Transpacific Flight (1928)The first successful transpacific flight was carried out by Australian aviator Charles Kingsford-Smith and his crew, who piloted the trimotor monoplane Southern Cross from Oakland, California, to Brisbane, Australia. During the 7,250-mi (11,668-km) journey, the Southern Cross stopped to refuel in Hawaii, then flew on to Fiji—where it was the first aircraft ever to land on the island—and then embarked on the final leg of its trip. How many days did the entire crossing take? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Bertha von Suttner (1843)Baroness Bertha von Suttner was an Austrian novelist who was known chiefly as an ardent pacifist. Her 1889 pacifist novel Die Waffen nieder—translated into English in 1892 as Lay Down Your Arms—had great social impact. Through her subsequent friendship with Swedish Chemist Alfred Nobel, she influenced him to establish the Nobel Prizes. In 1905, she became the first woman awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She met Nobel after answering an advertisement for what? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Victory is ever fickle.Homer (900 BC-800 BC) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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go soft on (someone)— To treat someone delicately, gently, or leniently; to not criticize, punish, or berate someone too harshly. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Uganda National Heroes Day (2023)Uganda National Heroes Day honors all those who sacrificed themselves to better the lives of the Ugandan people. Unfortunately, the holiday is one of the most divisive days in the Ugandan year. What constitutes a hero, and who specifically should be honored, are matters of debate in the country. Many of the heroes officially recognized by the government are fallen soldiers who died during Uganda's civil war in the 1980s. Some citizens have argued for remembering less controversial heroes, such as the Ugandan doctor who detected a deadly Ebola outbreak before it spread. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: swordsheath - Seems to have first been a split stick that a sword could be inserted into. More... spades - As a suit in a deck of cards, it has nothing to do with spades as tools, but comes from Spanish espada, "sword." More... spay - A shortening of a French word espeer, meaning "cut with a sword." More... gladiator, gladiate - The main Latin word for sword was gladius, from which came gladiator; gladiate is an adjective meaning sword-shaped. More... | |