Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, January 31, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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shoestring
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Modal Auxiliary Verbs - CouldThe modal verb "could" is most often used as a past-tense version of "can," indicating what someone or something was able to do in the past. "Could" can be used in what types of conditional sentences? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 TessellationsTessellations are patterns of carefully juxtaposed, non-overlapping shapes—like the multicolored tiles of a mosaic—that fill a given surface. They have been used throughout history, from ancient architecture to modern art, and are frequently found in the works of M.C. Escher. Regular tessellations, which are highly symmetrical and made up of congruent, regular polygons, can only be formed using equilateral triangles, squares, or hexagons. Where can tessellations be observed in the natural world? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Nauru, World's Smallest Island Nation, Gains Independence (1968)Annexed by Germany in 1888, controlled by Great Britain since World War I, occupied by Japan during World War II, and administered by Australia until the late 1960s, the tiny, phosphate-rich island of Nauru flourished in the years following its independence. However, after the island exhausted its primary phosphate reserves, living conditions deteriorated. Today, it has a 90 percent unemployment rate, and much of the island is uninhabitable. What percent of Nauruan citizens are obese? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 William Charles Lunalilo (1835)The shortest-reigning monarch in Hawaiian history, Lunalilo was unanimously elected by the legislature after the death of Kamehameha V, who had declined to name an heir. Just 13 months later, the similarly heirless Lunalilo died of alcoholism and tuberculosis. His goal of a more democratic Hawaii had earned him the nickname "the People's King," and he was buried in a common cemetery rather than in the royal mausoleum. What was his reward for having composed Hawaii's first national anthem? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 They say that none of us exists, except in the imagination of his fellows, other than as an intangible, invisible mentality.Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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loose lip(s)— The practice, habit, or manner of speaking too frequently and/or without discretion, especially as might unintentionally lead to revealing private or sensitive information to others. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Tu Bishvat (2018)Tu Bishvat, also known as New Year for Trees, is a minor Jewish festival similar to Arbor Day. It is first referred to in the late Second Temple period (515 BCE-20 CE), when it was the cut-off date for levying the tithe on the produce of fruit trees. Today the children of Israel celebrate Tu Bishvat with tree planting and outdoor games. In other countries, Jews observe the festival by eating fruit that grows in the Jewish homeland—such as oranges, figs, dates, raisins, pomegranates, and especially almonds, the first tree to bloom in Israel's spring. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: vowdrawing the nail - Means absolving oneself of a vow. More... vum - To swear or vow. More... votal - Means "associated with or having the nature of a vow." More... vote - From Latin votum, "vow, wish," which was its original meaning in English. The word had a number of meanings—now obsolete—before it took on the sense (in the 15th century) of "a formal expression of one's opinion or approval or disapproval of a matter, especially a candidate, motion, or proposal." More... | |
| In the News | |
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"Alien-Looking" Insect Found Trapped in AmberThe 100-million-year-old remains of an alien-looking female insect — complete with a triangular head and bulging eyes — have been discovered encased in a glob of hardened resin called amber.. The tiny creature, now called Aethiocarenus burmanicus, did ... More... | |