Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, February 23, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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smattering
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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ModifiersModifiers are, quite simply, any word or group of words that modifies (describes or elaborates upon) another element in a sentence. Modifiers can either be adjectives or what other part of speech? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 ThalesThales of Miletus, one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece, was a pre-Socratic philosopher and scientist. He is traditionally considered the first Western philosopher and a founder of geometry and abstract astronomy. As a philosophical materialist, Thales theorized that water was the first principle of all things. He speculated that the Earth floated on water, and so proposed an explanation for earthquakes. A capable astronomer, Thales is said to have predicted what celestial phenomenon in 585 BCE? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima (1945)The first American attack on Japanese soil during WWII, the Battle of Iwo Jima lasted more than a month and claimed tens of thousands of Japanese and American lives. Just days into the campaign, photographer Joe Rosenthal witnessed a group of American soldiers struggling to raise their flag on Iwo Jima's highest point and took what would become the most reproduced photograph in history. It was the second flag-raising that day. How many of the six men shown in the photograph survived the battle? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Samuel Pepys (1633)One of the most celebrated diarists of all time, Pepys was born into a humble family but steadily improved his standing and eventually became an important public servant and royal confidant. His diary, which he kept throughout the 1660s, describes some of the most important events of his time, including the Great Fire of London and an outbreak of the plague. It also offers a vivid, intimate record of the author's life. On New Year's Eve 1661, Pepys made what resolution that he broke soon after? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 There is an old-time toast which is golden for its beauty. "When you ascend the hill of prosperity may you not meet a friend."Mark Twain (1835-1910) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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the last thing (one) wants— Something which one absolutely does not want or has no use for. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Brunei National Day (2021)Brunei is an independent sultanate on the island of Borneo in the Malay Archipelago; it is officially named Brunei Darussalam. It had been a British protectorate since 1888. The sultanate gained independence in 1984 and observes its National Day each year on February 23. Many people prepare months in advance to participate in colorful crowd formations, a favorite National Day event, and prayer services take place at mosques around the country. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: signsconjecture - First meant "the interpretation of omens or signs" or "divination," and it literally means "to throw together," that is, to produce a theory by putting together a number of facts. More... diacritic - From Greek diakrinein, "distinguish from," it denotes marks or signs that distinguish different values or sounds (pronunciations) of a letter. More... semiopathy - A tendency to read humorously inappropriate meanings into signs. More... sigla - The words for signs and abbreviations representing words. More... | |