Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, February 23, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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scoundrel
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using the Passive VoiceThe passive voice may be used to emphasize the importance of the receiver of the action. How is this different from the active voice? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Pulp MagazinesPulp magazines were popular, inexpensive fiction magazines published from the late 19th century through the 1950s, primarily in the US. Printed on cheap paper with ragged, untrimmed edges, "pulps" were cheaper than books or standard magazines. While many respected, now-famous authors wrote for pulps, the magazines were known for their lurid, exploitative stories and sensational cover art, often featuring scantily-clad women. What famous masked hero made his rapier-toting debut in pulp magazines? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Cuba Leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States (1903)The city of Guantánamo is located in southeast Cuba. Founded in the early 19th century by French colonists from Haiti, it is well known today as the home of the US Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, which has installations covering roughly 45 sq mi (116 sq km). The site was leased to the US in 1903, but the Cuban government has refused since 1960 to accept the token annual rent of $5,000 from the US and has pressured for the surrender of the base. What was established at the base in 2002? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 W.E.B. Du Bois (1868)Du Bois was an early African-American civil rights leader and scholar, as well as the first African American to receive a PhD from Harvard University. He was an outspoken critic of the social inequalities that existed in the US during the early part of the 20th century, and he helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). What led Du Bois to seek Ghanaian citizenship at the age of 95? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Compromise used to mean that half a loaf was better than no bread. Among modern statesmen it really seems to mean that half a loaf is better than a whole loaf.Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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bucket list— A list of accomplishments or tasks one hopes to do or achieve before one dies. "Bucket" here is taken from the phrase "kick the bucket," meaning to die. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 St. Polycarp's Day (2023)St. Polycarp (c. 69-c. 155) was a disciple of St. John the Evangelist. He became bishop of Smyrna in 96 and, when the persecution of Christians was ordered by Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, he was condemned to be burned at the stake. But according to legend, the fire formed an arch over his head and his body was left unharmed. When a spear was plunged into his heart, so much blood poured out that it quenched the flames. It was the martyrdom of St. Polycarp that gave rise to one of Christianity's richest traditions: the annual commemoration of the anniversary of a saint's death. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: noisycorroboree - A large, noisy gathering. More... crash - May have been created as an imitation of the sound of noisy breaking, or may be a blend of craze and dash. More... obstreperous - Meaning "clamorous, noisy" and "argumentative," it is from Latin ob-, "against," and strepere, "to make a noise." More... strepent, strepitent - Strepent and strepitent mean "noisy." More... | |