Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, July 25, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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"It" as a Dummy PronounJust like the dummy pronoun "there," "it" is also used as a pronoun without an antecedent in sentences. "It" is commonly used as a dummy pronoun in discussions of what three topics? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Jogo do PauLiterally translated as "stick game," Jogo do Pau is a Portuguese martial art that is perhaps more accurately described as "stick fencing." First used for self-defense and the settlement of disputes, the art evolved into a sporting competition during the 19th century. Urban migration and greater access to firearms later led to the art's decline, but it was revived in the 1970s. Still, the origins of the art are not known. What are some of the theories about how and why it was developed? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Bob Dylan Plugs In (1965)At the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, erstwhile acoustic folk musician Bob Dylan performed with an electric guitar for the first time, marking a major shift in his career. The move did not go over well. Expecting an acoustic set like his two previous ones at Newport, the audience was caught off guard by Dylan's apparent betrayal of the folk genre, and some fans booed him loudly. His first appearance at the festival, in 1963, constituted his premiere national performance. Who invited him to play? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Thomas Eakins (1844)Perhaps the greatest American artist of the 19th century, Eakins lived, worked, and taught in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for most of his life. There, he painted The Gross Clinic in 1875. Depicting a surgical operation, it was initially criticized for being too realistic, but it is now seen as his masterpiece. Eakins was an influential art teacher, but his decision to use nude models of both sexes in mixed-gender classes caused an uproar. What incident led to his resignation in 1886? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The most useful thing about a principle is that it can always be sacrificed to expediency.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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however much— No matter how much. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Costa Rica Annexation of Guanacaste Day (2020)Annexation of Guanacaste Day is a Costa Rican national holiday, also known as Guanacaste Day. It marks the annexation of Guanacaste, the northern part of the Nicoya peninsula, from Nicaragua. The inhabitants of Guanacaste voted to join the state of Costa Rica on July 25, 1824. The holiday is celebrated with street fiestas, folk dancing, horse parades, and cattle shows. There are organized activities in major parks, and bullfights are a traditional part of the celebration in the Nicoya peninsula, where the holiday festivities typically last for several days. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: piercesashimi - Thinly sliced raw fish with a sauce, it is a compound formed from sashi, "pierce," and mi, "flesh." More... point - "Sharp end" is the etymological notion underlying point, from Latin pungere, "pierce, prick." More... stake - Meaning "post," it comes from a Germanic base meaning "pierce, prick." More... stick - Comes from Germanic meaning "be sharp, pierce, prick"; the piercing notion led to "becoming fixed in something" and then "adhering." More... | |