Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, April 13, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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raffish
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Expressing Equality Using "As … As"One way of expressing similarities, differences, or changes with comparative adverbs is by using the structure "as … as." What construction do we use to describe two things as equal? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The DaguerreotypeThe daguerreotype, an early form of photograph, was invented by Louis Daguerre in the early 19th c. He collaborated with J. Nicéphore Niepce, who created the first permanent photograph, but completed the design alone following his partner's sudden death. A daguerreotype, produced on a silver-plated copper sheet, produces a mirror image photograph of the exposed scene. Daguerre's process made portrait photography possible for the first time. How did the French government describe the invention? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Chicago Flood (1992)The source of the water pouring into the basements of buildings in the Chicago Loop area had not yet been identified when reports of live fish in the water began surfacing. This helped lead a reporter to the source of the flood—a leak in an old tunnel that ran underneath the Chicago River. It turned out that the leak had been discovered months earlier, but the city had failed to repair it in a timely fashion, allowing it to worsen and eventually inundate the area with how much river water? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Philippe de Rothschild (1902)A member of the aristocratic Rothschild banking family, Philippe was one of the most successful winemakers in the world. In the 1920s, the wealthy French playboy took up Grand Prix motor racing, among other pursuits, but soon withdrew to focus on the family vineyard. He spent decades building the Château Mouton Rothschild label, finally achieving Premier Cru—or First Growth—status in 1973. His idea for bottle labels became an enduring part of his vineyard's image. What was it? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Accursed be he that first invented war.Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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there is (a) method to (one's) madness— There is a specific, rational purpose in what one is doing or planning, even though it may seem crazy or absurd to another person. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 French Quarter Festival (2018)The French Quarter Festival celebrates Louisiana's distinctive musical and culinary traditions. Held in New Orleans, the festival features performances by local and other Louisiana musicians as well as those foreign musicians influenced by Louisiana's musical traditions. Scores of bands perform at various sites throughout the French Quarter (also called the Vieux Carré). Sixty local restaurants operate food booths on the festival grounds, offering spectators the best in Louisiana cooking. In recent years, close to 300,000 people have attended this three-day event. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: towertower - A group of giraffes. More... spire, steeple - A spire is the tall pointed roof of a tower or the tall pointed structure on top of a steeple; a steeple is the tower plus the spire. More... ziggurat - A tower in the form of a terraced pyramid. More... Big Ben - Not the clock in the tower of the Houses of Parliament but the bell itself. More... | |
| In the News | |
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For Smokers, Finding a Job Is HarderUnemployed smokers have more difficulty finding a job - and when they do find one, they tend to earn less than their smoke-free counterparts, a study suggests. Among unemployed people in the San Francisco Bay Area, nonsmokers were 30 percent more likely ... More... | |