Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, April 12, 2017)Word of the Day | |||||||
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pasquinade
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Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining ConjugationConjugation refers to the way we inflect (change the form of) verbs to create particular meanings. We usually change a verb in order to reflect grammatical tense, but we can conjugate verbs to reflect what else ? More... |
Article of the Day | |
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The Mystery of Skeleton LakeAn uninhabited area located high in the Indian Himalayas, Roopkund is best known as the home of Skeleton Lake, where in 1942 a park ranger made a startling discovery—a mass grave containing the remains of some 300 to 600 people. Using radiocarbon dating, scientists traced the skeletons to the 9th century. Though people initially believed the dead were victims of landslides, an epidemic, or a blizzard, further examination of the skulls revealed that the people died in what unusual way? More... |
This Day in History | |
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Record-Setting Wind Gust Recorded on Mt. Washington (1934)The highest peak in the northeastern US, New Hampshire's Mount Washington is famous for its erratic weather, caused partly by the convergence of storm tracks from the South Atlantic, Gulf region, and Pacific Northwest. Winds exceeding hurricane force occur there an average of 110 days a year. It is also where the highest directly measured surface wind speed—not including tornadoes or hurricanes—was recorded: 231 mph (372 km/h). What broke the world's wind speed record? More... |
Today's Birthday | |
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Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (1550)A brilliantly gifted linguist and one of the most dashing figures of his time, Oxford was also reckless, hot-tempered, and disastrously spendthrift. He was the patron of an acting company and wrote highly praised poems and plays in his earlier years, though none of the plays are known to have survived. He is considered by some to be the true author of Shakespeare's plays, since his own literary output apparently ceased just before Shakespeare's began. Which of his writings have survived? More... |
Quotation of the Day | |
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A fearful man is always hearing things. Sophocles (496 BC-406 BC) |
Idiom of the Day | |
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don't let the door hit you on the way out— Leave here quickly and directly; don't linger on your way out the door. Used sarcastically to express one's desire to see someone leave. More... |
Today's Holiday | |
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Liberia National Redemption Day (2023)On April 12, 1980, 13 soldiers stormed Liberia's executive mansion, killing William R. Tolbert and 26 other government leaders. After the massacre, 13 cabinet members were publicly executed. The soldiers were led by Samuel Kanyon Doe, who immediately set up a military regime called the People's Redemption Council. He also declared April 12 National Redemption Day; for Doe's political opponents, National Redemption Day was a time to memorialize the many individuals who were killed in 1980. Today, many Liberians observe the anniversary by remembering the slain. More... |
Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: pineapplecollective fruit - That which is formed from a mass of flowers, as the mulberry, pineapple, etc. More... Hawaiian pizza - A pizza topped with pineapple and ham or prosciutto. More... pineapple - Originally, pineapple was the word for pinecone, since the cone is the fruit of the pine and apple had the former general meaning "fruit"; pineapple is neither "pine" nor "apple," but is a very big berry and is also called "king pine" or "excellent fruit." More... multiple fruit, fruitlet - The pineapple is termed a multiple fruit because it forms from the individual ovaries of several flowers; each raised button on its surface is called a fruitlet. More... |