Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, June 20, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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debonair
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Conjugating "Be" in the Subjunctive Mood"Be" is the only verb that conjugates irregularly to reflect the subjunctive mood for wishes and desire. For that reason, "be" always conjugates to what form in the subjunctive mood? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 CigarsCigars, tightly rolled bundles of cured tobacco, were being smoked by the Mayans as early as the 10th century. Spanish travelers to the Americas brought cigars back to Spain in the 16th century, and their popularity then spread throughout Europe. The word cigar, therefore, derives from the Mayan word for tobacco. What did US President John F. Kennedy reportedly do immediately before imposing the Cuban trade embargo that, among other things, prohibits US residents from purchasing Cuban cigars? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Gangster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel Murdered (1947)Infamous gangster Bugsy Siegel began his criminal career extorting peddlers in New York City and soon graduated to bootlegging, gambling schemes, and contract killing. In 1937, he was sent to develop rackets on the West Coast, which he did with much success. In 1945, he began building the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Originally budgeted at $1.5 million, the cost was driven to $6 million due to his skimming, angering his mob bosses. Months after the opening, Siegel was killed by whom? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Chester Burton "Chet" Atkins, Mister Guitar (1924)Atkins got his first guitar by making a trade with his brother, and it was arguably the best deal he ever made. Although he struggled with shyness and suffered from severe asthma—he had to sleep sitting up and often fell asleep still holding his guitar—he became an accomplished guitarist and went on to release several hit records, develop a signature line of guitars, and help create country music's "Nashville sound." What did "Mr. Guitar," as he came to be known, trade to get that first guitar? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Traveling is a fool's paradise. Our first journeys discover to us the indifference of places.Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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the mind's ear— The imaginative capability to create or recall sound within one's mind; the part of the mind that experiences imagined or recalled sound. (An allusion to the "mind's eye," which is likewise responsible for mental imagery.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Eritrean Martyrs' Day (2018)Following its defeat of Ethiopian government forces in 1991 to establish national independence, Eritrea instituted an official holiday to pay tribute to those who died for the country's liberation. Many Eritreans observe Martyrs' Day by filing into mass mourning processions that conclude at the "Martyrs' Graveyards" located throughout the country. In 1997, the government opened the National Martyrs' Park outside the capital city, Asmara, and individuals arrive to pay their respects to the dead by finding names engraved on the National Martyrs' Monument. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: standscircumstance - Literally "that which stands around (something)." More... cost - Something that costs a particular amount literally "stands at or with" that price, from Latin constare, "to be settled or fixed, stand at a price, cost." More... stem - The stem of a tree is etymologically the upright part, the part that "stands" up, from its Germanic base sta-, "stand." More... wing it - Comes from theatrical jargon, referring to the hurried study of lines by an understudy in the wings, or to the help given by a prompter who stands in the wings of a theater. More... | |
| In the News | |
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Climate change killed the aliens, and it might kill us too, new simulation suggestsDid climate change already kill all the aliens we've been searching for? According to astrophysicist Adam Frank, it's certainly a possibility — and whether humans are doomed to the same fate may already be out of our hands. Frank, a professor of physics and ... More... | |