Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, December 21, 2023)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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bollard
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Past Perfect Continuous TenseThe past perfect continuous tense is used to describe an action that began and was still in progress in the past before another past action started. How does it differ from the past perfect tense? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Sumo WrestlingJapanese sumo wrestling originated as a religious ritual performed at Shinto shrines and evolved into a spectator sport in the 17th and 18th centuries. Matches often last only a few seconds and end when one wrestler forces his opponent to either step outside the fighting ring or touch the ground with any part of his body other than the soles of his feet. Wrestlers generally weigh more than 300 lbs (135 kg) and follow a rigorous training regimen. What is the life expectancy of a sumo wrestler? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First Manned Voyage to a Celestial Body Launched (1968)Also the first manned launch of a Saturn V rocket, Apollo 8 was the first manned voyage to a celestial body—the Moon. It took about three days for the craft to enter lunar orbit, whereupon it proceeded to orbit the Moon 10 times in 20 hours. The three crew members were the first humans to see the far side of the Moon—an important precursor to the historic lunar landing that would occur less than a year later. In a Christmas Eve live TV broadcast from space, the crew read from what book? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Frank Zappa (1940)Zappa was a prolific and highly distinctive guitarist, composer, and songwriter. His career spanned more than 30 years and encompassed a variety of genres, including rock, jazz, and classical. He released the groundbreaking double album Freak Out! with the Mothers of Invention in 1966. With its raw sound, sophisticated arrangements, and lyrics praising nonconformity, the album immediately established Zappa as a radical new voice in rock music. What unusual names did he give his children? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The main object of religion is not to get a man into heaven, but to get heaven into him.Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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scooch over— To move slightly to the side, especially while seated. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 St. Thomas's Day (Episcopal Church) (2023)St. Thomas the Apostle was dubbed "Doubting Thomas" because, after the Resurrection, the other Apostles told him that they had seen Jesus, and he wouldn't believe them until he had touched Jesus' wounds himself. When the Apostles left Jerusalem to preach to the people of other nations, as Jesus had instructed them to do, tradition says Thomas traveled eastward toward India. In Kerala, the smallest state in India, the Malabar Christians claim St. Thomas as the founder of their church. For them, his feast day is a major celebration. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: tidesriver estuary - The mouth of a river that is influenced by the tides. More... ebb - Suggests the receding of something (e.g. tides) that commonly comes and goes. More... riptide - Is actually a current, not a tide. More... canonical hours - The seven canonical hours of the church were called tides, and tide—from an Indo-European root meaning "to divide"—is used with other words to denote a definite interval of time: noontide, Eastertide, eventide, summertide, etc. More... | |