Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, June 10, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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stymie
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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WhoseThe interrogative adjectives "what" and "which" can often be used interchangeably, while "whose" is very different. What does "whose" denote? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The TasadayFirst touted in 1971 as a tribe that had lived in isolation on the Philippine island of Mindanao since the Stone Age, the Tasaday were later declared a hoax perpetrated by Philippine government official Manuel Elizalde. His claim was challenged in the 80s by Swiss anthropologist and journalist Oswald Iten, whose investigation of the two dozen Tasaday concluded that they were really members of known local tribes living a staged Stone Age lifestyle. How might Elizalde have profited from the hoax? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 London's Millennium Bridge Opens, Promptly Closes (2000)When tens of thousands of pedestrians crossed the Thames River via London's Millennium Bridge on its opening day in 2000, many felt the steel suspension bridge sway, and the vibrations worsened as people adjusted their gaits to the motion. Nicknamed the "wobbly bridge" by Londoners, it closed just two days later for modifications to eliminate the sway and did not reopen until 2002. What prompted the bridge to close again in 2007 over concerns that pedestrians were in danger of being blown off? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Hattie McDaniel (1895)McDaniel was the first African American to win an Academy Award, earning it for her role as the maid Mammy in 1939's American Civil War epic Gone with the Wind. Segregation, still widespread in the American South at the time, prevented her from attending the film's Atlanta premiere, but when her friend and fellow actor Clark Gable—who had recommended her for the role—wanted to boycott the event, she insisted that he attend. Why does McDaniel have two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 In so complex a thing as human nature, we must consider, it is hard to find rules without exception.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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to (one's) heart's desire— As much as or to the point that one wants; to the point of contentment, satiety, or surfeit. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Children's Day (United States) (2018)Many countries have set aside a day on which children are allowed to participate in church services, in government, and in various cultural and recreational activities. In the United States, Children's Day was first celebrated in June 1856 at the Universalist Church in Chelsea, Massachusetts. By 1868 its date had been set on a nationwide basis as the second Sunday in June. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: shakingpulsatilla - Can refer to the shaking of a flower in the wind. More... quassation - The act or process of being shaken or shaking. More... concussion - Its underlying etymological notion is of "violent shaking," from Latin concutere, "shake violently." More... Shaker - The Shakers got their name from the shaking and convulsive movements they made during worship. More... | |
| In the News | |
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How Did Farming Spread Across Stone Age Europe? Two Paths FoundHumans began to settle down and farm the land some 12,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent in southwestern Asia. Over the next couple thousand years, agriculture caught on in other regions, setting the stage for today's human civilization. But scientists have ... More... | |