Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, October 13, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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tawdry
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Distinguishing between Intensive and Reflexive PronounsAlthough intensive and reflexive pronouns are identical in appearance, there is a clear distinction between them. Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject of a sentence also receives the action of the sentence. When are intensive pronouns used? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Wakhan CorridorIn the late 19th century, Western adventurers who had explored beyond India's frontiers brought back thrilling tales, exaggerating Russian activity in Central Asia and sparking British interest in the area. The rivalry that developed between Russia and Britain—known as the Great Game—resulted in the creation of the Wakhan Corridor, a buffer zone between the two empires. The rugged, highly remote stretch now links northeastern Afghanistan with China. How many people live in the Wakhan Corridor? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 PLoS Publishes Open Access Scientific Journal (2003)The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a nonprofit open-access scientific publishing project aimed at creating a library of scientific journals and other scientific literature under an open content license. Therefore, PLoS journals are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License. PLoS began as a petition urging scientists to stop submitting papers to journals that did not make the full text of their papers available within six months. What Nobel Prize winner helped found PLoS? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Mary Henrietta Kingsley (1862)Kingsley was an English explorer and writer who challenged and influenced European ideas about Africa. Following the deaths of her parents, Kingsley travelled to West Africa to complete her father's unfinished book. There, she studied local customs and explored uncharted territory. Returning to her native England, she criticized missionary efforts and defended traditional African culture—including aspects such as polygamy. Another female explorer introduced her to what murderous tribal custom? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 History is made by men, but they do not make it in their heads. The ideas that are born in their consciousness play an insignificant part in the march of events. History is dominated and determined by the tool and the production—by the force of economic conditions.Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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set (someone) by the ears— To cause (someone, generally a group of two or more people) to engage in a squabble, dispute, or altercation. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 International Cervantes Festival (2025)Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616), best known for Don Quixote (1605), is honored in a three-week festival held in Guanajuato, Mexico, featuring orchestral music, opera, theater, dance, film and folklore. Although most festival events are held in the Teatro Juarez and the Teatro Principal, amateur Mexican actors often give street performances of Cervantes's famous one-act plays in the Plaza de San Roque. Various musical performances are a popular attraction, as are art exhibits, children's theater, and folkloric dance ensembles. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: twigsdrey - A squirrel's nest of twigs in a tree. More... broom - Was first called a besom, but evolved because many of them were made of twigs from the wild broom shrub. More... lop - The smaller branches and twigs of a tree. More... whiskers - Originally the word for a bundle of feathers, twigs, etc. used for whisking (from "whisk"), it then came to denote the projecting hairs or bristles of mammals. More... | |