Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, May 21, 2019)Word of the Day | |||||||
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pommel
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Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Modal Verbs Used to Make an OfferBecause modal auxiliary verbs can be quite similar in how they are used, it is sometimes unclear when it's more appropriate to use one instead of another. For instance, "can," "may," and "shall" can all be used to offer to do something for someone. Which of these verbs is used as a polite suggestion? More... |
Article of the Day | |
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The Giant Impact HypothesisThe giant impact hypothesis—the favored scientific hypothesis for the formation of the Moon—proposes that the Moon was created from the debris of a collision between a young Earth and a Mars-sized celestial body. Evidence for the hypothesis includes Moon samples indicating that its surface was once molten, the Moon's apparently relatively small iron core and lower density than that of Earth, and evidence of similar collisions in other solar systems. What evidence is inconsistent with the theory? More... |
This Day in History | |
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Leopold and Loeb Murder Teen in Thrill Killing (1924)Now famously known as Leopold and Loeb, Nathan Leopold, Jr., and Richard Loeb were two University of Chicago students who murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks in 1924 as part of an elaborate plan to commit the "perfect crime." Although the duo attempted to conceal or destroy all evidence linking them to the crime, a pair of Leopold's eyeglasses was found near the scene, and the two later confessed. Spared the death penalty, they were instead sentenced to life in prison plus how many years? More... |
Today's Birthday | |
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Mary Anning (1799)The daughter of a British cabinetmaker who supplemented his income by selling "curiosities" he recovered from cliffside fossil beds near his home, Mary Anning grew up collecting fossils. When she was just 12 years old, she and her brother discovered the first ichthyosaur skeleton to be correctly identified. As an adult, she continued the dangerous work of scouring the Lyme Regis cliffs for fossils and made a number of significant geological finds. What tongue twister might Anning have inspired? More... |
Quotation of the Day | |
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I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who. Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) |
Idiom of the Day | |
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admit defeat— To yield to the opposition or accept that one is wrong in some pursuit. More... |
Today's Holiday | |
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Anastenaria (2023)Anastenaria is a firewalking ceremony in Greece, in the communes of Agia Eleni near Serres and of Langada near Thessalonike. Men and women, some holding red kerchiefs and some carrying icons of St. Constantine and St. Helen—in whose honor the ceremonies are held—dance barefooted on red-hot coals while folk musicians play. The custom is supposed to have originated in an ancient form of worship that was brought by travelers from Kosti in Eastern Thrace and adapted to Christian beliefs. More... |
Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: tidebillow - The swell on the ocean produced by the wind, or on a river or estuary by the tide or wind. More... slack water, slack tide - Before any turn of the tide, there is a time of slack water or slack tide. More... happy as a clam - Originally happy-as-a-clam-at-full-tide; it may refer to the fact that when the tide is full, nobody is digging clams. More... tidy - Comes from tide, which in Old English meant "time period"; its original meaning was "timely, opportune." More... |