Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, May 30, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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ameliorate
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Focusing AdverbsFocusing adverbs are used to draw attention to a particular part of a clause. They frequently point to verb phrases. Where can focusing adverbs be placed in a sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Armillary SphereUsed as early as the third century BCE, armillary spheres are astronomical models of the celestial sphere—an imaginary sphere surrounding the Earth, upon which the celestial bodies seem to lie. Fixed and movable rings representing circles of the celestial sphere, such as the ecliptic and the celestial equator, allow astronomers to use armillary spheres to determine the movements and positions of stars. A representation of this device is prominently featured on what country's national flag? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Old West Outlaw Pearl Hart Robs a Stagecoach (1899)Hart was an American outlaw whose notoriety stemmed primarily from the fact that she was female. Her early life was fairly ordinary. She grew up wealthy and eloped at 16. In 1893, after seeing Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, she left her abusive husband and went west, where she acquired a taste for cigars, liquor, and morphine. In 1899, she helped rob a stagecoach, making away with over $400. She was apprehended, escaped, was recaptured, and then tried for her crimes. Why was she later pardoned? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 René Barrientos (1919)Barrientos was elected vice president of Bolivia in 1964, but he soon broke with the president and joined other army officers in a coup. He was installed as head of a military junta and became the sole president after winning the 1966 elections. He launched a moderate—albeit military—administration, retaining the reforms instituted by his predecessors. Three years later, he died in a helicopter crash. Why did he once jump out of an airplane with a parachute that had earlier failed to open? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The right time is any time that one is still so lucky as to have.Henry James (1843-1916) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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have (one's) name taken— In football (soccer), to receive a yellow card (and thus have one's name recorded in the referee's booklet). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Procession of the Holy Blood (2019)This procession is a major religious event in Bruges, Belgium, to venerate the Holy Blood of Christ said to have been brought back from the Second Crusade by Thierry d'Alsace, count of Flanders, in 1150. Through living tableaux, the procession tells the story of the Bible, from the fall of Adam and Eve on through the New Testament stories. Some dozen groups also depict the triumphant return of Thierry d'Alsace to Bruges. When the procession has returned to Burg Square, the bishop of Bruges lifts the relic of the Holy Blood and blesses the crowd. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: slopingpitched - Describing a "steeply downward sloping" roof built at an angle. More... fastigiate - Means "sloping up to a point." More... slalom - From Norwegian sla, "sloping," and lam, "track." More... squint - Short for the obsolete asquint, which may have come from Dutch schuin, "sideways, sloping." More... | |