Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, January 28, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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inextirpable
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining GerundsA gerund is the "-ing" form of a verb when it functions grammatically as a noun in a sentence. Gerunds can either stand alone, or they can take a noun (the object of the gerund) and/or modifier(s) to form what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Laying on of HandsIn a number of faiths and spiritual practices, the act of laying hands on a person's head is used to confer spiritual blessing. In Christianity, the practice is used as both a symbolic and formal method of invoking the Holy Spirit during baptisms, healing services, blessings, and ordinations of priests and other church officers, along with a variety of other church sacraments and holy ceremonies. Laying on of hands was also practiced by European kings and was believed to cure what disease? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Space Shuttle Challenger Breaks Apart (1986)Seventy-three seconds into its launch, the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated, killing everyone on board. Investigators concluded that an O-ring—a rubber seal located in the right booster engine—had failed due to cold weather at the time of launch, causing a chain reaction that led to the orbiter's ultimate disintegration. The tragic event was captured on film, and many children viewed the launch live because schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe was on board. Why was she on the shuttle? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 José Martí (1853)A poet as well as a man of action, Martí was a writer and revolutionary who dedicated his life to the cause of Cuban independence. At the age of 16, he was arrested for treason and eventually deported. He returned from exile in 1878, only to be exiled again the next year. Having made his way to the US, he founded the Cuban Revolutionary party, but he was killed in battle before seeing the fruits of his labors—Cuban independence. Martí's "Versos Sencillos" serve as the lyrics of what famous song? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 I am the family face; flesh perishes, I live on, projecting trait and trace through time to times anon, and leaping from place to place over oblivion.Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a free bit of advice— A suggestion, opinion, or piece of advice that was unrequested or unsolicited by the recipient. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 St. Charlemagne's Day (2023)Charlemagne wasn't actually a saint at all; he was an emperor and the first ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, crowned in 800 by Pope Leo III. Although he was never able to read and write himself, Charlemagne, whose name means "Charles the Great," founded the University of Paris. In fact, his reign was marked by a huge cultural revival, including significant advances in scholarship, literature, and philosophy. He died on January 28, 814. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sininequity, iniquity - Inequity is "injustice, unfairness"; iniquity refers to "immorality, sin, wickedness." More... remission, remit - Remission originally meant forgiveness or pardon for an offense or sin, and remit meant "forgive, pardon." More... reprehensible - Usually applied to things, not people—the sin and not the sinner. More... | |