Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, February 1, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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The Nine Reflexive PronounsThe reflexive pronouns are "myself," "ourselves," "yourself," "yourselves," "herself," "himself," "itself," "themselves," and "oneself." The last of these is formed from the gender-neutral indefinite pronoun "one." Is "one" a personal pronoun? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 AuroraNamed for the Roman goddess of dawn, the aurora borealis and aurora australis—also known as the northern and southern lights, respectively—are held among the most magnificent natural phenomena. The luminous nighttime displays of colorful bands that ripple across the sky are most often seen along the edges of the Arctic and Antarctic. They are caused by charged particles from the Sun that become trapped in the Earth's magnetic field and collide with air molecules. Do other planets have auroras? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Director Skips Bail and Flees to France (1978)The films of renowned director Roman Polanski are marked by dramatic situations presented with irony and a cool lack of sentimentality. Born in Paris and educated in Poland, he moved to Hollywood in 1968 to pursue his filmmaking career. His pregnant wife was murdered by the Manson "family" shortly thereafter. In 1978, he fled to France to avoid sentencing after pleading guilty to statutory rape. A survivor of the Holocaust, he recently received an Academy Award for what World War II film? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Boris Yeltsin (1931)Yeltsin became Russia's first democratically elected president in 1991. A populist advocate of radical reform, he embarked on a program of "shock therapy" just days after the dissolution of the USSR, converting the world's largest socialist planned economy into a market-oriented capitalist one. The skyrocketing prices, heavy taxes, and credit crunch that followed produced a protracted depression that devastated Russia. How, then, did Yeltsin manage to win a second term in 1996? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 How great would be the desire in every admirer of nature to behold, if such were possible, the scenery of another planet!Charles Darwin (1809-1882) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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harrowing experience— An experience that is frightening, chilling, or disturbing, either due to an implied or actual element of danger, or from being physically or emotionally unpleasant. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Imbolc (2023)One of the "Greater Sabbats" during the Wiccan year, Imbolc celebrates the coming of spring and the recovery of the Earth Goddess after giving birth to the Sun God at Yule. The Greater Sabbats (or Sabbaths) take place four times a year, at the Cross-Quarter Days of February 1, May 1, August 1, and November 1. In ancient days, some of these were huge get-togethers that involved dancing, singing, and feasting all night. Revolving around the changing of the seasons and the breeding of animals, they served as a way to give thanks for the bounties of the earth. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sacrificeoffer - Originally meant "to present or sacrifice something to a religious entity." More... sacrifice - From Latin sacrificium, related to sacrificus, "sacrificial," from sacer, "holy, sacred." More... oblation - Something offered to God or a god, like a sacrifice or donation, can be called an oblation. More... victim - Originally denoted a person or animal killed as a sacrifice. More... | |