Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, May 18, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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egotist
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Introductory Appositive PhrasesAppositives most commonly appear directly after the noun they identify. In what instance can we place an appositive before a noun? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Conspiracy of Claudius CivilisThe Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis, an oil painting by Dutch master painter Rembrandt, depicts a Roman historian's account of an episode from the Batavian rebellion, led by the one-eyed chieftain Claudius Civilis. At around 16 x 16 ft (5 x 5 m), it was Rembrandt's largest completed work before it was reduced in size for sale. Commissioned in the mid-17th century by Amsterdam's city council for the city hall, it was returned to Rembrandt after being displayed for only a short time. Why? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Bath School Bombing (1927)Over the course of several months leading up to May 18, 1927, disgruntled school board member Andrew Kehoe hid hundreds of pounds of explosives inside the Bath Consolidated School in Bath Township, Michigan. That day, after destroying his farm—which was slated for foreclosure—he detonated the explosives inside the school and set off a bomb in his vehicle. The massacre is considered the deadliest act of mass murder in a school in US history. How many people were killed? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Frank Russell Capra (1897)One of the preeminent Hollywood directors of the 1930s and 40s, Capra produced idealistic populist movies that celebrate the virtues of the common American. At age six, the Sicilian-born future director immigrated with his family to the US. After holding various jobs in the film industry, he emerged as a major director in 1928. Within years, he had won his first Oscar. Which of his films is now considered one of the best American films ever made—despite having initially been a box office flop? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Hard work is simply the refuge of people who have nothing whatever to do.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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(there's) no comparison— This person or thing is clearly and inarguably better than any other. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Haiti Flag and University Day (2018)National unity is a primary theme of Flag and University Day in Haiti, an independence celebration and an occasion to recognize the country's educational system. Flag Day became an annual celebration shortly after Catherine Flon sewed the first red and blue flag in 1803, a year before Haiti won its independence from France. The government incorporated University Day as part of the celebration in 1919. Haitians wave flags throughout the day's parades and fairs, which take place throughout Haiti as well as in New York and Miami, two cities with large Haitian communities. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: slaughterfatstock - Livestock fattened for slaughter. More... massacre - Comes from Latin mazacrium/masacrium, "slaughter." More... slaughter - From Old Norse, meaning "butcher's meat." More... homicide, murder, manslaughter - The general term for the killing of a person by another is homicide; murder is either the intentional killing or the malicious killing of another, while manslaughter is the unintentional, accidental killing of another through carelessness. More... | |
| In the News | |
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The Milky Way's Speediest Stars Could Solve a 50-Year-Old MysteryKen Shen was racing against the sun. It was 3 A.M. on April 25 and Shen—an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley—was sitting at his kitchen table in his pajamas. At that precise moment the scientists behind the European Space Agency’s Gaia ... More... | |