Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, April 7, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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phalanx
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Collective AdjectivesCollective adjectives are nominal adjectives (adjectives that act as nouns) used to refer to a group of people based on a characteristic that they share. What are some common collective adjectives? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 WasabiWasabi is a member of the cabbage family that grows naturally along stream beds in mountain river valleys in Japan. Its root is used as a strong, mustard-hot spice that produces vapors that burn the sinus cavity rather than the tongue. Wasabi paste is often served with sushi and sashimi, but because true wasabi is so expensive, most American and Japanese sushi bars serve imitation wasabi made of what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Japanese Battleship Yamato Sunk (1945)The largest battleship ever constructed, the Yamato was the lead ship of the Yamato class of battleships that served with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. After taking part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Yamato was sunk during Operation Ten-Go, the last major Japanese naval operation in the Pacific Theater, while on its way to face the Allied fleet at Okinawa. How did the Allies know about the planned attack? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Gabriela Mistral (1889)Born Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, Mistral was a Chilean poet who combined writing with a career as a cultural minister, diplomat, and professor. She established her reputation as a poet in 1914, when she won a prize for "Sonetos de la Muerte"—"Sonnets of Death." Her passionate lyrics, with love of children and of the downtrodden as principal themes, are collected in many volumes. In 1945, Mistral became the first Latin American to be honored in what way? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 In her face excuseCame prologue, and apology too prompt. John Milton (1608-1674) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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by stealth— In an undetected way; silently and secretly. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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.jpg) Candle Auction (2015)The old custom of "selling by candle" is still observed in scattered locations throughout England, among them the village of Tatworth in Somerset. Every year on the Tuesday following April 6, six acres of valuable watercress-growing land are leased to the highest bidder. The bidders gather behind locked doors in a room illuminated only by a candle stuck to a board. A pin is inserted into the candle an inch below the flame; as the candle burns, the melting wax eventually releases the pin. The person who got the last bid in before the pin dropped will be able to use the land in the year to come. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: twigsdrey - A squirrel's nest of twigs in a tree. More... broom - Was first called a besom, but evolved because many of them were made of twigs from the wild broom shrub. More... lop - The smaller branches and twigs of a tree. More... whiskers - Originally the word for a bundle of feathers, twigs, etc. used for whisking (from "whisk"), it then came to denote the projecting hairs or bristles of mammals. More... | |