Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, November 1, 2022)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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confluence
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Conjunctive AdverbsConjunctive adverbs (also called linking adverbs or connecting adverbs) are a specific type of conjunction specifically used to connect two independent clauses. What punctuation mark is traditionally used when we join two independent clauses with a conjunctive adverb? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Seattle's Space NeedleAt 605 feet (184 m) tall, the Space Needle is the most recognizable landmark in Seattle, Washington. The tower was built for the 1962 World's Fair and now boasts a rotating restaurant, a gift shop, and an observation deck, which afford views of the Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier, and Elliott Bay. The tower can withstand winds of up to 200 mph (322 km/h) and earthquakes up to 9.1 in magnitude. It also has 25 lightning rods. What two design concepts inspired the structure's unique architecture? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Seabiscuit Defeats War Admiral in the "Match of the Century" (1938)Seabiscuit was a famous thoroughbred racehorse. As a colt, he was undersized, knobby kneed, and given to sleeping and eating. He failed to win any of his first races and became the butt of stable jokes. In the midst of the Great Depression, however, he began to win a number of prestigious and unlikely races, becoming a symbol of hope to many Americans. Then, in a race dubbed the "Match of the Century," he met War Admiral, who had won the elusive Triple Crown, and defeated him by what margin? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Stephen Crane (1871)Often classified as the first modern American writer, Crane was among the first to introduce realism into American literature. He achieved international fame with his masterwork, The Red Badge of Courage, which depicts the psychological turmoil of a young Civil War soldier. While traveling as a war correspondent, Crane survived a shipwreck and ended up adrift in a dinghy. This ordeal inspired him to write the acclaimed story "The Open Boat." What took his life when he was just 28? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Our happiness depends on wisdom all the way.Sophocles (496 BC-406 BC) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a fishbowl— A place, situation, or environment in which one has little or no privacy. A reference to the (typically) spherical bowls in which pet fish are often kept, which can be seen into from all sides. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Samhain (2023)This ancient Celtic harvest festival was celebrated at the beginning of winter. According to Celtic folklore, this was the day when the souls of the dead and other supernatural entities gathered and would have access to the human realm—thus giving rise to the fears about ghosts and goblins that we now associate with Halloween, or Samhain Eve. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: newsgazette - A gazzetta, a Venetian coin of little value, gave rise to the phrase gazzetta de la novita, "halfpennyworth of news," which eventually gave us gazette. More... silly season - Any slow news period characterized by trivial news or no news. More... tidings - Probably comes from Old Norse tithindi, "news of events." More... report - To report something is etymologically to "carry it back," from Latin reportare; the metaphorical sense of "bringing back news" also developed in Latin. More... | |