Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, May 9, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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paroxysm
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Degrees of Comparison - AdjectivesAdjectives can be inflected (changed in form) to compare a quality between two nouns—this form is known as the comparative degree. What suffix is added to the end of the adjective to form the comparative degree? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Palermo StoneThe Palermo stone is the largest known fragment of an ancient Egyptian stele containing the earliest extant historic annals. It was engraved around the 25th century BCE and includes a hieroglyphic listing of the kings of ancient Egypt, the years of their reigns, notations of historic events, and information pertaining to the flooding of the Nile. The stone was so named because it is housed in a museum in Palermo, Italy, but small pieces of it are held in what other cities? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Freighter Destroys Part of Florida's Sunshine Skyway Bridge (1980)The original Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay was completed in 1954. A new southbound span was opened in 1971, but only nine years later, it was destroyed when the freighter Summit Venture collided with a support column during a storm, sending more than 1,200 ft (366 m) of the bridge plummeting into the bay. The collision caused several automobiles and a bus to fall 150 ft (46 m), killing 35 people. What tragedy had occurred within a mile of the bridge just months earlier? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866)Gokhale was an Indian nationalist leader. A moderate, he stressed negotiation and conciliation rather than non-cooperation or violence—views that clashed with the more militant ideas of Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Gokhale was instrumental in founding the Servants of India Society, a nationalist organization whose members, sworn to poverty and obedience, were enlisted to serve as volunteers for the social, political, and economic welfare of India. To what future Indian leader was Gokhale a mentor? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A God that can be understood is no God. Who can explain the Infinite in words?W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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enough (something) to choke Caligula's horse— A lot of something. The phrase likely mentions Caligula because the Roman emperor was known for his penchant for excess. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) (2019)Known in Hebrew as Yom ha-Atzama'ut, this day commemorates the proclamation of independence by Palestinian Jews and the establishment of a provisional government in Israel on May 14, 1948 (5 Iyyar 5708 on the Jewish calendar). It is observed with parties, performances, and military parades as well as religious rituals, which include the reading of Psalms. A popular custom on this day for Israelis is to walk at least a short distance somewhere in the country where they have never walked before. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: marriedbenedick, benedict - A long-time bachelor who is newly married is a benedick or benedict. More... quadrigamist - Someone who has married four times. More... connubial - A synonym for "married, wedded." More... matrimony - From Latin matrimonium, "state of being married," from mater, "mother," and monium, "-mony" (state, condition). More... | |