Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, December 15, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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abbess
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Interrogative PronounsInterrogative pronouns are used in interrogative sentences to ask questions, functioning either as the subject or object of such sentences. There are five primary interrogative pronouns. What are they? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The MatchlockInvented in the 15th century, the matchlock was the first mechanical device for igniting gunpowder and a major advance in small-arms manufacture. It consisted of an S-shaped arm designed to hold a lit match and a trigger that would lower it into a flash pan and ignite the priming powder that would then ignite the main charge. Though slow and rather clumsy, the matchlock allowed users to keep both hands on the weapon and both eyes on the target when firing. What eventually replaced the matchlock? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Plane Carrying Jazz Musician Glenn Miller Disappears (1944)Miller was an American swing-era jazz musician and bandleader and one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1942. A freelance musician in New York City, Miller formed his own big band in 1938, earning fame for songs like "Moonlight Serenade." During WWII, he joined the military and entertained the troops as leader of the US Air Force band. While flying from England to Paris, his plane disappeared over the English Channel. Miller was never found. What may have happened to the plane? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (1832)Eiffel was a French engineer who designed the Eiffel Tower as the entrance arch for the for the 1889 Paris Exhibition. Though it was supposed to be dismantled after the fair, the tower became a landmark and is today the world's most visited paid monument. Prior to this massive undertaking, Eiffel established his reputation by constructing a series of ambitious railway bridges, including the span across the Douro at Oporto, Portugal. In 1881, he designed the internal framework for what structure? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Children have a natural antipathy to books--handicraft should be the basis of education. Boys and girls should be taught to use their hands to make something, and they would be less apt to destroy and be mischievous.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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hit on all cylinders— To operate, perform, function, or proceed exceptionally well or at the greatest possible speed or efficiency. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Bill of Rights Day (2023)The first 10 amendments to the US Constitution of 1787—referred to collectively as the Bill of Rights—were ratified on December 15, 1791. This landmark document protected American citizens from specific abuses by their government and guaranteed such basic rights as the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt designated December 15 as Bill of Rights Day and called upon Americans to observe it with appropriate patriotic ceremonies. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: ruleslect - A regional or social variety within a language, a form of speech defined by a homogenous set of rules. More... precisian - An overly precise person, a strict observer of rules and procedures. More... ring - Boxing started off in circles, and when the Marquess of Queensbury introduced a set of rules in 1867, he also introduced the roped-off square, which continued to be called the "ring." More... mistress - First meant "a woman who rules or has control," or a "woman who employs others, as servants." More... | |