Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, May 24, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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impermanent
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Regular AdverbsAdverbs generally correspond to an adjective, so that when we want to apply the adjective's meaning to a verb (or to an adjective or another adverb), we have a straightforward way to do so. What ending is typically added to the end of an adjective to make an adverb? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 SquattingSquatting is the act of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building that one does not own, rent, or have permission to use. Many of the slums and shanty towns found in the world's poorest countries began as squats established on illegally occupied land. Commonly seen in urban areas the world over, squats function as residences as well as social centers. According to one source, there may be as many as one billion squatters globally. What is the international squatters' symbol? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Peter Minuit Buys Manhattan (1626)Peter Minuit was the director-general of the Dutch colony of New Netherland who is credited with the purchase of the island of Manhattan in 1626. According to legend, he persuaded the natives—perhaps a Metoac band of Lenape known as the Canarsee, who were actually native to what is now Brooklyn—to "sell" the island for a handful of trade goods worth approximately 60 guilders. In 1846, that price was converted by a New York historian to what US dollar amount? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Helen Brooke Taussig (1898)Now regarded as the founder of pediatric cardiology, Taussig was an American physician who, among other things, revolutionized the diagnosis and treatment of "blue babies," babies whose heart malformations cause low blood oxygen content. She pioneered the use of fluoroscopy to identify defects in the heart and great vessels and devised a surgical treatment with Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas that saved thousands of infants. She also helped block the approval of what dangerous drug in the US? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 I can see the humorous side of things and enjoy the fun when it comes; but look where I will, there seems to me always more sadness than joy in life.Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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affable personality— A personality that is friendly, approachable, sociable, amicable, and/or likeable. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Bulgarian Culture Day (2023)This Bulgarian national holiday promotes Bulgarian culture and honors two brothers, St. Cyril (c. 827-869) and St. Methodius (c. 815-844), missionaries to Moravia. They are believed to have invented the Slavonic alphabet, also known as the Cyrillic alphabet. Special religious services, concerts, festivals, and student parades are held throughout Bulgaria on this day, which is also known as Saints Cyril and Methodius's Day, and Day of the Founders of the Slavonic Alphabet. An impressive liturgy, celebrated at the cathedral in Sofia, is one of the highlights. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: limbsashtanga - Sanskrit for "having eight parts"—referring to the eight limbs or sutras of yoga; ashtanga yoga is also known as power yoga. More... basket case - Originally slang denoting a soldier who had lost all four limbs, thus unable to move independently. More... stretch - Originally meant "lengthening the limbs" or making them stiffer by stretching. More... hurkle, hurple - To hurkle or hurple is to draw one's limbs in and scrunch up the shoulders in reaction to the cold or in a storm. More... | |