Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, December 15, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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monition
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Declarative SentencesA declarative sentence makes a statement or argument about what is, was, or will be the case. That is, it talks about that which is asserted to be true. What mark of punctuation do declarative sentences usually end in? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 MoaiMoai are the monolithic human stone sculptures of Easter Island. The massive statutes are generally thought to be representations of the deified ancestors of the Rapanui people, who likely produced them between 1250 and 1500 CE. Carved from soft volcanic tufa, the statues range from 10 to 40 feet (3 to 12 meters) high, with some weighing more than 80 tons. Nearly half are still at the main moai quarry, but hundreds were transported and set on platforms around the island. How were they moved? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Jens Olsen's World Clock Is Started by Danish King Frederick IX (1955)Originally a skilled locksmith, Jens Olsen learned the trade of clock-making and, in the 1920s, designed an exceedingly intricate astronomical clock made of more than 14,000 parts. Today displayed in Copenhagen City Hall, the clock shows not only the time and date but also lunar and solar eclipses and the positions of stars and planets. The complex clock took over a decade to assemble, and Olsen died before his masterpiece was finally set in motion by King Frederick IX. Who helped him start it? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (37 CE)Nero became emperor of Rome by murdering his mother and step-brother. His respectful treatment of the Senate made him a popular emperor in the east, but his reign was marred by unemployment and a major revolt in Britain. After a fire ravaged Rome in 64 CE, he persecuted the Christians as scapegoats. With his reign in decline, Nero went on a murderous rampage, was condemned by the Senate, and chose suicide over execution. According to legend, Nero played the fiddle while Rome burned. Is it true? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be kept in the dark (about something)— To be kept uninformed (about something); to be excluded from full knowledge or disclosure (of something). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Bill of Rights Day (2017)The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution of 1787—referred to collectively as the Bill of Rights—were ratified on December 15, 1791. This landmark document protected American citizens from specific abuses by their government and guaranteed such basic rights as the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt designated December 15 as Bill of Rights Day and called upon Americans to observe it with appropriate patriotic ceremonies. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: jestjoke - Latin jocus, "jest, joke," gave us joke. More... ludicrous - Early senses of ludicrous, from the adjective ludic, were "sportive," "intended as jest" and "spontaneously playful." More... juggle, juggler - Juggle is from Latin joculus, a diminutive of jocus, and a juggler was originally a jester. More... jocose - From Latin jocus, it means "full of jokes." More... | |
| In the News | |
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Earth's Hum: Scientists Record the Very Sound of Earth—but Don't Know Why It HappensScientists have recorded the mysterious sound of the Earth deep underwater for the first time. The eerie hum could be key to understanding the makeup of the planet itself—but no one knows what makes it. First proposed in the 19th century, scientists ... More... | |