Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, October 7, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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wailful
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Reflexive Pronouns as Direct Objects in the Middle VoiceMany middle-voice verbs are transitive verbs and therefore require a direct object in the form of a reflexive pronoun. Without a reflexive pronoun, what happens to the receiver of the action? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Bethlem Royal HospitalBethlem Royal Hospital is the oldest institution for the care and confinement of the mentally ill in England and one of the oldest in Europe. First founded as a priory in 1247, the building was converted to a hospital around 1400. A distortion of the hospital's name gave rise to the word "bedlam," which was once used as a generic term for a psychiatric hospital and has since been applied to any scene of turmoil and confusion. What notable patients have been housed at Bethlem Royal Hospital? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Russian Journalist and Human Rights Activist Murdered (2006)Anna Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist and human rights activist well known for her opposition to the Russian government's role in the Chechen conflict and her criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, notably in her book Putin's Russia. Her controversial work sparked numerous death threats against her, and she was shot to death in an elevator in her apartment building on October 7, 2006. Her murder, which remains unsolved, coincided with what other occasion? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Rosalba Carriera (1675)One of the greatest Italian portrait and miniature painters of her day, Carriera became known for her miniature portraits on snuffboxes and was an originator of the Rococo style in France and Italy. By the time she was 30, she had been elected to the Academy of St. Luke in Rome, the Academy of Bologna, and the Florence Academy. As her career progressed, she gained a reputation for her pastel portraits and was even commissioned to create one of King Louis XV. What tragedy befell her late in life? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Virtue never has been as respectable as money.Mark Twain (1835-1910) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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shotgun house— (chiefly Southern United States slang) A one-story house in which each room is in a straight alignment with the others, connected by a continuous hallway running from the front to the back of the residence. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Paul Bunyan Show (2018)Paul Bunyan is the mythical hero of lumberjacks in the United States. Since 1952, the Paul Bunyan Festival, sponsored by the Ohio Forestry Association and Hocking College in Nelsonville, has focused on wood products and forestry conservation and is an opportunity for lumberjacks to test their skills. Teams of draft horses compete in a log-skidding contest—an operation that is performed today by heavy machines—and turn-of-the-century steam logging equipment is on display. The show gives visitors an opportunity to see both traditional and modern logging techniques in action. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: terrierwhippet - A cross between a greyhound and a terrier. More... terrier - A dog that "takes the earth" or unearths its prey, from Latin terra, "earth." More... Dobermann, pinscher - Dobermanns are named for German dog breeder Ludwig Dobermann; pinscher means "terrier" in German. More... Jack Russell - A type of terrier—not recognized as a distinct breed— named for the Rev. John Russell (1795-1883) of Devonshire. More... | |