Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, December 11, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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wayfarer
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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GerundsA gerund is the "-ing" form of a verb when it functions grammatically as a noun in a sentence. What is a gerund phrase? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Swedish EmpireBetween 1611 and 1718, the Kingdom of Sweden was one of the great powers of Europe. Sweden first became powerful during the reign of King Gustavus II. Through a war with Russia, he acquired Ingermanland and Karelia. From Poland, he took nearly all of Livonia. By his victories at Breitenfeld and Lützen in the Thirty Years War, Gustavus made Sweden the dominant Protestant power of continental Europe. Its southern provinces were recovered from Denmark in 1660. What brought an end to Sweden's power? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Established (1946)The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)—now the United Nations Children's Fund—was founded in 1946 for the purpose of providing relief to children in countries devastated by World War II. After 1950, it turned to general children's welfare programs, winning the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1965. Today, it focuses on areas in which relatively small expenditures can have a significant impact. How did its famous "Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" fundraising campaign begin? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Max Born (1882)A prominent German physicist, Born taught theoretical physics at the University of Göttingen from 1921 to 1933, until Nazi policies forced him—a person of Jewish descent—to flee to England, where he continued to teach at the university level. He made contributions to various branches of physics, including solid-state physics and optics, but his most important work was that related to quantum mechanics—work that earned him a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1954. Born was one of 11 signatories to what? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 All slang is metaphor, and all metaphor is poetry.Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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take the high road— To choose the most noble, ethical, or diplomatic course or method, especially after or in the face of negativity or ill treatment. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Burkina Faso Republic Day (2023)On this day in 1958, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) voted to become an independent republic within the French community. It was then internally self-governing until it achieved independence in 1960. This is considered the most important national holiday in Burkina Faso, with many events held in the capital city of Ouagadougou. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: rollingbeachcomber - A long wave rolling in from the sea. More... sprag - A block placed behind a car wheel to keep it from rolling down a hill. More... keep the ball rolling - An allusion to rugby or bandy. More... voluble - "Flowing with speech, talkative"; such a person has words "rolling" off their tongue. More... | |