Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, April 1, 2022)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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potentate
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Forming the First ConditionalThe first conditional is very similar in structure to the zero conditional. We still use "if" plus the present simple to create the condition, except that we now use what tense to describe a probable result of the condition? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 YogaYoga dates to at least the 2nd century BCE—and likely much earlier—as an orthodox school of Hindu philosophy, but it has become known outside of India as a means of physical and mental exercise. The popular form in the West is hatha yoga, which emphasizes specific postures combined with controlled breathing to bring about mental calm. Hatha yoga's more than 1,000 positions are intended to make the spine supple and promote circulation throughout the body. What does yoga mean in Sanskrit? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Netherlands Becomes First Country to Allow Same-Sex Marriage (2001)In 1997, a Dutch parliamentary commission tasked with investigating the advisability of same-sex unions concluded that same-sex couples should be given the right to enter into civil marriages. Legislation was finalized in late 2000, and at the stroke of midnight on April 1, 2001, four same-sex couples were married by the mayor of Amsterdam, making the Netherlands the first nation to legally recognize same-sex marriages. How many same-sex couples took advantage of the new law in that first year? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Otto von Bismarck (1815)Bismarck was a 19th-century Prussian and German statesman. Under his leadership, Prussia defeated Austria and France, and Germany was united. He was appointed premier in 1862 and became chancellor of the North German Confederation in 1867. When the new German Empire formed in 1871, he became its first chancellor, gaining almost complete control of foreign and domestic affairs and eventually earning the nickname "Iron Chancellor." What was the Kulturkampf, and why did he encourage it? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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desperate times call for desperate measures— Extreme and undesirable circumstances or situations can only be resolved by resorting to equally extreme actions. Derived from the proverb, "Desperate diseases must have desperate remedies." More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Greek Cypriot National Day (2023)This holiday marks the anniversary of the 1955 start of the Greek Cypriot liberation struggle against British colonial forces. The Turkish community, which preferred an alliance with Turkey, also took up arms, complicating the struggle. Greek Cypriot National Day is celebrated in South Cyprus, which is the Greek partitioned part of the island. Almost all public services and most private shops are closed. The holiday is often celebrated with parades in city streets, along with music, dancing and flag-waving. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: temporarybooth - First a temporary dwelling made of branches, material, etc. More... learning cottage - A residential trailer used as a temporary or portable classroom. More... lodge - First was a temporary dwelling, as a hut or tent. More... jerry-built - Is either from English dialect jerry, "bad, defective," a pejorative use of the male nickname Jerry, or from nautical slang jury, "temporary," which came to be used of all sorts of makeshift and inferior objects. More... | |