Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, June 30, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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gourmand
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Viewpoint AdverbsViewpoint adverbs are used to indicate whose point of view we are expressing, or to specify what aspect of something we are talking about. What do they modify in a sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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.jpg) Solomonic ColumnsCharacterized by their corkscrew-like shaft, Solomonic columns draw their name from the Biblical description of the two columns that famously flanked the entrance to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, built in the 10th c BCE. According to tradition, that temple was the source of a set of columns brought to Rome by Constantine the Great in the 4th c CE for the original St. Peter's Basilica, where several of the pillars still remain. These columns are now believed to have originally stood where? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Great Blondin Crosses Niagara Falls on Tightrope (1859)Best known as "The Great Blondin," Jean François Gravelet was a French tightrope walker and acrobat famous for making multiple crossings of Niagara Falls on a tightrope on several occasions. Balancing 160 feet (48 m) above the water on a 1,100-foot (335-m) tightrope, Blondin dazzled crowds by using a different theatrical variation each time he crossed, performing the feat blindfolded, in a sack, pushing a wheelbarrow, on stilts, carrying a man on his back, and sitting down to do what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Michael Phelps (1985)Phelps is an American swimmer who has won 16 Olympic medals, 14 of them gold. He started swimming as a child and competed in his first Olympics at 15. A year later, he became the youngest male ever to set a world swimming record, doing so in the 200-meter butterfly. In 2008, he set a record for most gold medals won at a single Olympiad—eight—while setting as many swimming records. Phelps has several unusual physical characteristics that may give him an edge in the sport. What are they? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Hope is a leaf-joy, which may be beaten out to a great extension, like gold.Francis Bacon (1561-1626) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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hog (something)— To take or use something all for oneself; to not allow others to have or use something. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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_to_Puerto_San_Jo.jpg) Guatemala Army Day (2020)Guatemala's Liberal Revolution, which called for the end of the dictatorship of Vicente Cerna, culminated with a revolt in Guatemala City on June 30, 1871. Originally known as Revolution Day, the anniversary of the revolt became Día del Ejército (Army Day), an official holiday recognizing the service of the armed forces. It has been marked over the years by annual parades, usually in Guatemala City. In 2007, protests against the parade spawned violence in the streets, and the ongoing resistance compelled the government to cancel the official parade the following year. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: slaveamanuensis - Literally "slave at hand"—for a literary assistant, especially one who takes dictation or copies manuscripts. More... ciao - Also ciau; from Italian, it is an alteration of schiavo, "(I am your) slave." More... serve - From Latin servire, "serve," from servus, "slave." More... addict - To addict originally meant "to award as a slave"; an addict now is a slave to his/her habit, from Latin addictus, which, in Roman law, meant "a debtor awarded as a slave to his creditor." More... | |