Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, January 23, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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solitudinarian
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Evaluative AdverbsEvaluative adverbs are used by the speaker to comment or give an opinion on something. They modify the entire clause. What are the types of evaluative adjectives? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Swing KidsThe Swing Kids were a group of jazz and swing music enthusiasts in Germany in the 1930s. Composed mainly of high school students, the group sought a British and American way of life in opposition to the Nazi ideology that was emerging in their country. Defining themselves by their taste in swing music—which was considered a "degenerate" Western import by the Nazis—the Swing Kids stood in contrast to the youth groups allied with the Nazi movement, including what notorious organizations? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Elva Zona Heaster Discovered Dead (1897)Shortly after marrying drifter Erasmus Shue, Heaster was found dead and was soon buried. Her mother, who suspected foul play, claimed to have had a vision in which her daughter's ghost stated that Shue had broken her neck, killing her. When the body was exhumed, an autopsy confirmed that Heaster's neck had been broken, and Shue was tried for murder. What role did the ghost—since known as the Greenbrier Ghost for Heaster's hometown of Greenbrier County, West Virginia—play in the trial? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Édouard Manet (1832)One of the foremost French artists of the 19th century, Manet is often regarded as the father of modern painting. Rebelling against the academic tradition, he developed a realist style that was one of the founding forces of Impressionism. Although his talent is recognized today, Manet was often greeted with harsh criticism during his career, including for his paintings Le déjeuner sur l'herbe—The Luncheon on the Grass—and Olympia. Why were the paintings controversial? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 My definition [of a philosopher] is of a man up in a balloon, with his family and friends holding the ropes which confine him to earth and trying to haul him down.Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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barrel of laughs— Fun, funny, and pleasant. Often used sarcastically to indicate that someone is unpleasant or not enjoyable to be around. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 San Ildefonso Pueblo Feast Day (2024)These late-January festivities mark a highlight in the ceremonial year at San Ildefonso Pueblo near Santa Fe, New Mexico. January 23 is the pueblo's feast day, celebrated with a special church service and dances, such as the Buffalo, Comanche, and Deer dances. The dances are a way of paying respect and giving thanks for the animals on which people depend for food and other materials. On the evening before, there are bonfires and a firelight procession. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: tribelow man - On an actual totem pole, it is really the most important man in the tribe. More... tribe - From Latin tribus, it may refer to the three divisions of early Romans, the Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans. More... tribunal - Originally referred to a seat or raised platform for judges, from Latin tribunus, "head of a tribe." More... cannibal - When Columbus was trying to find the Spice Islands, he was told of a tribe of man-eating natives in Cuba and Haiti called Caribs (from which we get Caribbean) or Caniba (Columbus' rendition of the name); the word canib, meaning "brave and fierce," became cannibal, meaning "anthropophagite," a person who eats human flesh. More... | |