Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, March 28, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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heartburn
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Noun Phrases of Varying LengthNoun phrases can be as short as two words, or they can be longer and have many words. The number of words in a phrase does not affect its status as a noun phrase, so long as it functions as what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 NeanderthalsNeanderthals were a species of the human genus Homo that inhabited much of Europe and the Mediterranean approximately 200,000–28,000 years ago. They were short, stout, and powerful; used fire; and buried their dead. Some scholars do not consider them direct ancestors of modern humans—Homo sapiens. Others regard them as a late form that was absorbed into modern human populations in some areas while dying out in others. How did their cranial capacity compare to that of modern humans? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Constantinople Becomes Istanbul (1930)The city now known as Istanbul was founded as the Greek colony of Byzantium in the 8th century BCE. Eventually passing to Alexander the Great, it became a free city under the Romans in the 1st century CE. Emperor Constantine I made the city the seat of the Eastern Roman Empire in 330, later naming it Constantinople. It remained the capital of the subsequent Byzantine Empire after the fall of Rome in the late 5th century and then changed hands several times. Why was it renamed Istanbul in 1930? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Henry Schoolcraft (1793)Schoolcraft was a geologist, geographer, and ethnologist noted for his studies of Native American cultures as well as for his discovery of the source of the Mississippi River in 1832. His extensive relations with Native Americans—including his marriage to an Ojibwa woman—led to his appointment as an Indian agent, and he negotiated a treaty with the Ojibwa in 1836 that ceded much of their land to the US. Upon discovering the lake that feeds the Mississippi River, what did Schoolcraft name it? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Happiness is reflective, like the light of heaven; and every countenance, bright with smiles, and glowing with innocent enjoyment, is a mirror transmitting to others the ways of a supreme and ever-shining benevolence.Washington Irving (1783-1859) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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in all truthfulness— In one's sincere opinion; without any disingenuousness. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Teachers' Day in the Czech Republic (2024)March 28 is the birthday of Jan Amos Komensky (or John Comenius; 1592-1670), a noted educational reformer and theologian in the former Czechoslovakia. Komensky was the first person to write an illustrated textbook for children, used for teaching Latin words; he was also a proponent of compulsory education. It has been traditional for children to honor him on Teachers' Day, or Komensky Day, by bringing flowers and gifts to their teachers. The day is also observed with lectures, music, and educational activities. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: unluckydismal - Comes from French dies mali, "evil days," and first meant the 24 evil or unlucky days of the medieval calendar (two per month). More... infaust, infausting - Infaust is "unlucky" and infausting is "making unlucky." More... left-handed - Had a meaning of "unlucky" or "unseasonable." More... widdershins - Means "in a direction opposite of the usual one," but can also mean "unlucky." More... | |