Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, September 20, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Superlative AdverbsSuperlative adverbs, like superlative adjectives, are used to describe differences among three or more people or things. What ending is added to the base adverb to form a superlative adverb? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Lapis LazuliLapis lazuli is a semiprecious stone prized since antiquity for its intense blue color. It has been mined in Afghanistan for 6,500 years, and the discovery of artifacts at several Predynastic Egyptian and Neolithic sites indicates widespread early trade in the stone. Powdered lapis was used until the 19th century to make blue pigment and may have even been used as eye shadow by Cleopatra. Today, much of what is sold as lapis lazuli is actually dyed jasper. Where does lapis lazuli get its name? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 Is Launched (1967)By the time Cunard's RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, often referred to simply as the QE2, ocean liner was built, airplanes had already largely supplanted ships for transatlantic travel. Thus, the vessel needed to be more efficient and versatile than her predecessors in the fleet. During her 39 years in service, she completed 806 transatlantic crossings, ferrying 2.5 million passengers across nearly six million miles of ocean. During what war was she pressed into service as a troop carrier? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Upton Sinclair (1878)Sinclair was a prolific American novelist and socialist activist who wrote over 90 books, including The Jungle, a best-selling muckraking exposé of conditions in the Chicago meat-packing industry that aroused public indignation and resulted in the passage of food inspection laws in the US. He also organized a socialist reform movement in the 1930s and won the Democratic nomination for governor of California but was defeated in 1934. For what book was Sinclair awarded the Pulitzer Prize? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 When we look back, the only things we cherish are those which in some way met our original want; the desire which formed in us in early youth, undirected, and of its own accord.Willa Cather (1873-1947) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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have a good name (somewhere or in something)— To have a respected reputation (in something or some place). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Paris Autumn Festival (Festival d'Automne) (2023)The Autumn Festival marks the start of the city's cultural season, encompassing film, photography and other contemporary arts on an international scale. Most of the theater presentations are experimental, and they have included productions from the United States, West Berlin, Denmark, Poland, and the former U.S.S.R. Composers whose works have been performed there include Pierre Boulez, György Ligeti, John Cage and Iannis Zenakis, and it has featured the New York Philharmonic, the London Sinfonietta and the Orchestre de Paris. Events are held in locations throughout Paris. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: riversMesopotamia - Translates to "area or country between two rivers"—the Tigris and the Euphrates. More... potamology - The science of rivers. More... fluminous, potamic - Two words meaning "pertaining to rivers" are fluminous and potamic. More... watersmeet - A junction of two rivers. More... | |