Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, November 12, 2023)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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morass
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Collective AdjectivesCollective adjectives are nominal adjectives (adjectives that act as nouns) used to refer to a group of people based on a characteristic that they share. What are some common collective adjectives? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Mayumba National ParkIn 2002, Gabon's president established a national park system that protects about 11% of the country's land and waters. Included is Mayumba National Park, located on the Atlantic coast of central Africa and dedicated to the protection of marine life. The park shelters a 60 km (37 mi.) strip of beach and coastal vegetation and extends another 15 km (9 mi.) out to sea. Dolphins and whales can often be found in the waters off the coast. What reptile uses the park's beach as its breeding ground? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Exploding Whale Incident (1970)In 1970, a 45-ft (14-m), 8-ton sperm whale died after beaching itself near Florence, Oregon. Charged with disposing of the carcass, the Oregon Highway Division decided that half a ton of dynamite would effectively break the whale into pieces small enough for scavengers to clear. The explosion, which launched large chunks of blubber so far that at least one car was damaged, was filmed by a TV crew and became the stuff of legend. Why did a 50-ton whale spontaneously explode in Taiwan in 2004? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815)Stanton was an American reformer and a leader of the women's suffrage movement. In 1840, she married abolitionist Henry Brewster Stanton, and they attended the World's Anti-Slavery Convention in London, where she joined Lucretia Mott in objecting to their exclusion from the assembly. A proponent of legal, political, and industrial equality for women, she later joined forces with Susan B. Anthony in the women's suffrage movement. What one word did Stanton famously omit from her marriage vows? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Pathos, piety, courage,—they exist, but are identical, and so is filth. Everything exists, nothing has value.E. M. Forster (1879-1970) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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gunner's daughter— obsolete A cannon or other such armament used on a naval vessel, to which seamen were bound so as to receive lashings during corporal punishment. (Usually used with the verbs marry, kiss, or hug + the.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Birthday of Sun Yat-sen (2023)Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925) was the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang). He served as the first provisional president of the Republic of China (1911-12) and later as its de facto ruler (1923-25). Because he possessed an exceptionally broad knowledge of the West and developed a grand plan for China's industrialization, he is known as "the father of modern China." Sun Yat-sen's birthday is a holiday in Taiwan. The anniversary of his death, March 12, is observed as Arbor Day in Taiwan. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: lawsautonomy - From Greek autos, "self," and nomos, "law," i.e. a person or unit that makes its own laws. More... blue sky laws - Laws protecting the public from securities fraud. More... code, codex - Code, from Latin codex, meaning "block of wood split into tablets, document written on wood tablets," was first a set of laws. More... constitute, constitution - Constitute can mean "make laws" and a constitution is a "how-to" document for a government or organization. More... | |