Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, March 20, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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quandary
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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TenseGrammatical tense refers to the conjugation of a verb to reflect its place in time—that is, when the action occurred. There are technically only two grammatical tenses in English. What are they? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 "La Marseillaise""La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. It was written and composed in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle and became the rallying cry of the French Revolution. Originally known as the "Marching Song of the Rhine Army," it got its present name because it was first sung on the streets of Paris by troops from Marseille. The words of what famous revolutionary song written in 1870 were intended to be sung to the melody of "La Marseillaise"? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Ian Ball Attempts to Kidnap Princess Anne (1974)Intending to kidnap Queen Elizabeth II's only daughter and collect a £2 million ransom, Ball attacked Princess Anne's chauffeur-driven limousine as it returned to Buckingham Palace. He shot the chauffeur, two policemen, and a passerby who tried to intervene, but Anne got away with the help of another passerby. Ball was then captured. His victims recovered, and all six who tried to help Anne were awarded medals. What was Anne's famously feisty retort when Ball ordered her out of the car? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (1957)Lee is an American filmmaker whose movies often celebrate the richness of African-American culture and address problems such as racism, sexism, and addiction. Lee first gained recognition with his New York University graduation film in 1982. He went on to make Do the Right Thing, which presented the complexities and tensions of interracial relations, and Malcolm X, a biopic about the African-American leader. Why do many blame him for a New York Knicks loss in the 1994 playoffs? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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have a hankering for (something)— To have a very strong, persistent desire or craving for something. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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.png) Burning of the Socks (2020)This pungent event takes place in Eastport (a suburb of Annapolis), Maryland, on the day of the Vernal Equinox. The burning of the socks began in the mid-1970s when a man named Bob Turner, upon leaving his job at the boatyard on the first day of spring, decided to burn his socks in tribute to the coming warmer weather. Turner's personal custom caught on with others and became a local tradition. The Eastport Yacht Club now organizes the yearly event at which people drink beer, eat oysters, and burn socks, all in the name of driving away winter and welcoming spring. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: reflectionepiphonema - An exclamatory sentence or reflection summing up a discourse. More... rainbow - Comes from Old Norse regnbogi (becoming Old English renboga, ren, "rain," and boga, "bend, bow") and is a bow or arch of the colors of the prism that is formed in the sky opposite to the sun by the reflection, double refraction, and dispersion of the sun's rays in falling drops of rain. More... sheet lightning - Appears as a broad sheetlike illumination of parts of a thundercloud, caused by the reflection of a lightning flash. More... | |