Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, November 11, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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vitriol
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Future Continuous TenseThe future continuous tense (also known as the future progressive) is used to describe an unfinished action occurring in the future. How is the future continuous tense formed? 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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 Kaprun Disaster Leaves 155 Dead (2000)High above the Austrian ski resort of Kaprun, a funicular railway car carrying over 160 people to a glacier caught fire after a defective heater ignited hydraulic brake fluid in the rear of the car. Only partway through a 2-mi (3.2-km) tunnel, the car came to a sudden halt. As the fire grew, the passengers were plunged into darkness and trapped behind inoperable doors. Almost all who managed to escape the burning car suffocated in the tunnel. How did the 12 survivors manage to escape to safety? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922)An influential American writer, Vonnegut used wry, black humor to highlight the horrors of 20th-century civilization. His novels, which include Breakfast of Champions and Player Piano, are frequently satirical and pessimistic, yet morally urgent. The best-selling Slaughterhouse-Five was based on Vonnegut's experience of surviving the firebombing of Dresden. Which of Vonnegut's novels was accepted by the University of Chicago as his thesis for an anthropology degree? 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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Hell and half of Georgia— A great distance or area; a huge amount of space. Primarily heard in US. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Veterans Day (Emporia, Kansas) (2017)Veterans Day was founded in Emporia, Kansas, on November 11, 1953. For decades, November 11 was observed in the United States as Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of World War I. But in 1953 the City of Emporia created a special program to honor all veterans; the U.S. Congress passed a bill changing the name of the federal holiday the following year. In recognition of its role in defining Veterans Day, Emporia celebrates the holiday with 10 days of special events, including museum exhibits, races, essay and poster contests, luncheons, and memorial luminaria. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sacksachet - Etymologically, a "little sack"—a small packet of perfumed matter. More... cul-de-sac - Literally French for "bottom of a sack," it also means "situation from which there is no escape"; it can be pluralized as cul-de-sacs or culs-de-sac. More... gunny - From Sanskrit goni, "sack," it is the material used for sacks, made from jute or sunn-hemp. More... haversack, knapsack, rucksack - Haversack is from German Haber, "oats," and Sack, "bag, sack"; knapsack is from German knapper, "to bite (food)" and zak, "sack"; rucksack comes from German Rucken, "back," and sack. More... | |
| In the News | |
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Dorms for Grownups: A Solution for Lonely Millennials?This office looks like a pretty typical co-working space, what with the guy with a ponytail coding in one corner, the pile of bikes clustered in another, and the minimalist desks spread across a light-filled room. Troy Evans opened this space, CoWorks, in ... More... | |