Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, March 30, 2024)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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brachypterous
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining DeclensionDeclension collectively refers to the inflection (change in form) of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs to reflect certain aspects of how they are used in a sentence. How does declension differ from conjugation? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 SumerThe Sumerian civilization was the world's earliest civilization, developing at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in lower Mesopotamia in about 3500 BCE. The Sumerians had a well-organized communal life and were adept at building canals and irrigation systems. Unfortunately, the evaporation of irrigated waters led to increased soil salinity and greatly reduced agricultural yields, weakening the predominantly agricultural civilization. What form of writing did the Sumerians invent? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Hymen Lipman Patents Pencil with Attached Eraser (1858)In prehistoric times, lumps of colored earth or chalk were used as markers. The so-called lead pencil—a rod of graphite encased in wood—first came into use in the 16th century. However, it was not until the 19th century that the eraser was added—an innovation that earned Hymen Lipman a patent in 1858. In 1862, he sold his patent to Joseph Reckendorfer for $100,000. What happened to Reckendorfe's patent 13 years later? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Francisco Goya (1746)Goya was a Spanish painter and printmaker whose work profoundly influenced 19th-century European art. He started out designing tapestries for the royal manufactory of Santa Bárbara and was appointed painter to Charles III in 1786. By 1799—under the patronage of Charles IV—he had become Spain's most successful and fashionable artist. Goya's works address all aspects of Spanish life, including the political and social turmoil of his day. Why did his art come under the scrutiny of the Inquisition? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Scarcely one person in a thousand is capable of tasting the happiness of others.Henry Fielding (1707-1754) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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in front of (one's) nose— Immediately obvious or clearly apparent. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Doctors' Day (2024)Since 1933, this day has been set aside to honor America's physicians. It is the anniversary of the day in 1842 on which Dr. Crawford W. Long removed a tumor from the neck of a man while the patient was anesthetized by ether. Dr. Long was the first acclaimed American physician to use ether as an anesthetic agent in a surgical procedure. The red carnation is the official flower associated with Doctors' Day. The American Medical Association promotes various activities to mark this day, including walk-a-thons and blood drives. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: phenomenacosmology - The study of the world as a totality of all phenomena in space and time. More... noology - The science of intuition and reason as phenomena of the mind. More... ontology, phenomenology - Ontology is the branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature or essence of being or existence, the opposite of phenomenology, the science of phenomena. More... second nature - Originally Latin secundum naturam, "according to nature," it is from Aristotelian philosophy and contrasts with phenomena that are super naturam ("above nature," such as God's grace), extra naturam ("outside nature"), supra naturam ("beyond nature," such as miracles), or contra naturam ("against nature"). More... | |