Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, March 18, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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blackjack
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Compound PredicatesWhen the subject is related to two or more finite verbs, the sentence is said to have a "compound predicate." What do we usually use to link the verbs in a compound predicate? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Year and a Day RuleThe year and a day rule was an English legal principle holding that a death could not be deemed murder—or any other form of homicide—if it occurred more than a year and one day after the act that was allegedly its cause. Though it became enshrined in common law, the rule was finally abolished in 1996. Now, if an act can be proved to have caused a death, it can constitute murder regardless of how much time has passed. In what other ways has the specific time limit of a year and a day been used? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Landmark US Supreme Court Decision Guarantees Right to Counsel (1963)After he was accused of breaking into a bar in Florida in 1961, Clarence Gideon was unable to afford a lawyer and was forced to defend himself. Sentenced to five years in prison, he had ample time to study the law, and he began petitioning the courts with the claim that his right to legal counsel had been violated. In 1963, the US Supreme Court agreed with him, establishing that state courts were required to provide attorneys for poor defendants. What happened when Gideon was retried? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Edgar Cayce (1877)Cayce was an American folk healer and purported "psychic diagnostician" who popularized the idea of reincarnation. He received little formal education before setting off to wander the US, performing thousands of "life readings" and spreading his ideas as he went. He eventually settled in Virginia and set up a hospital to treat people with the aid of psychic messages he claimed to receive. He also prophesized, claimed to recall past lives, and wrote extensively about what legendary civilization? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Looking at these stars suddenly dwarfed my own troubles and all the gravities of terrestrial life.H.G. Wells (1866-1946) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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make (one's) own way— To advance or progress, especially through life, according to one's own efforts, inclinations, or designs. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Gudi Padva (Gudi Padwa) (2018)Gudi Padva marks the beginning of the civil year among Hindus. Hindus observe this day by erecting a pole from which hangs a silk banner (a gudi) or a piece of women's clothing and a drinking pot. There are a number of legends associated with the pole, but it generally serves as a good luck symbol. Other customs associated with this day are visiting friends, bathing, and eating leaves from the nim tree, which is believed to bring protection against illness, since this tree has a holy connection with Sitala, the smallpox goddess. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: wavesbreach - The leap of a whale out of the water or the breaking of waves over a vessel or onto a coast; it is also the act of breaking. More... plangent - Describes the sound of the sea and its waves—reverberating and mournfully resonant. More... swaff - To come one over another, like waves upon a shore. More... lop - The state of the sea when it has waves that are short and lumpy, hence "loppy," when it is choppy and lumpy. More... | |
| In the News | |
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Einstein made his share of errors. Here are three of the biggestEven people who know little about Albert Einstein's work know he was brilliant — so clever that his name is synonymous with genius. Of course, the mind that gave us the theory of general relativity, the 1915 masterwork that sealed Einstein's scientific ... More... | |