Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, October 29, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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PeriodsThe period (also known as a full stop, especially in British English) is a punctuation mark ( . ) primarily used to indicate the end of a sentence. When typing, how many spaces should be used after a period? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 SarinSarin is a colorless and odorless nerve agent estimated to be more than 500 times as toxic as cyanide. A cholinesterase inhibitor, it effectively causes nerve impulses to be continually transmitted, resulting in a loss of control of bodily functions, suffocation, and death. Discovered in 1938 by German scientists attempting to create stronger pesticides, sarin was mass produced by the German military during World War II. Did the Nazis use sarin against Allied targets? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Black Tuesday (1929)In the 1920s, the US stock market expanded rapidly and reached a peak in August 1929, when prices began to decline while speculation increased. On October 24, "Black Thursday," a record 12,894,650 shares were traded. Banks and investment companies bought large blocks of stock to stem the panic, but on October 29, "Black Tuesday," 16 million shares were traded and prices collapsed. Why do some scholars contend that the stock market crash was not the cause of the Great Depression? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 James Boswell (1740)Boswell was a Scottish lawyer and author who is best known for his biography of English literary scholar and critic Samuel Johnson, a noted wit. Boswell's record of Johnson's pithy remarks earned The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. recognition as one of the greatest biographies of Western literature. So skillful was his work that Johnson is perhaps better remembered for his sayings in the biography than for his own writings. What Boswell manuscripts were discovered in the 20th century? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Excellence encourages one about life generally; it shows the spiritual wealth of the world.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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golden ticket— A person, thing, quality, ability, or accomplishment that provides a reliable opportunity for great financial or personal success. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Turkey Republic Day (2023)The Turkish Republic was founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1923 after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Kemal was named the first president on October 29, a full republican constitution was adopted the following April, and all members of the Ottoman dynasty were expelled from the country. The public celebration, which lasts for two days, includes parades, music, torchlight processions, and other festivities in honor of the founding of the republic. The largest parades are held in Ankara and Istanbul. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: wormscan of worms - Based on an image of a container of maggots for use as fish bait. More... food for worms, food for fishes - A dead human being is food for worms; a drowning victim is food for fishes. More... silkworm - Is not a worm, but a caterpillar. More... wormwood - There are no worms or wood involved in wormwood, which is an alteration of the word wermod, a plant used for making vermouth, absinthe and medicine. More... | |