Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, August 16, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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pernicious
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Linking VerbsLinking verbs (also known as copulas or copular verbs) are used to describe the state of being of the subject of a clause. What is the most common linking verb? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Dead Man's SwitchA dead man's switch is an emergency brake that automatically activates to stop a vehicle or machine in the event that the operator becomes incapacitated. This sort of safety measure became necessary with the advent of electric trains, since they cut the number of required operators down to one, and has become standard in numerous devices, including snowblowers, lawn mowers, and saws. Though developed as a fail-safe, a dead man's switch can sometimes be a "fail-deadly," as when built into what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Ray Chapman Fatally Injured by Pitch to the Head (1920)For the entirety of his Major League Baseball career, Ray Chapman was a shortstop for Cleveland. He set a team record for stolen bases that would stand for decades, but his career was tragically cut short when he was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by Yankees hurler Carl Mays. According to eyewitnesses, Chapman likely never even saw the ball. He is the only Major League Baseball player to have died as a result of an injury received in a game. His death led the league to establish what rule? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Dame Mary Gilmore (1865)Gilmore was a prominent Australian socialist poet and journalist who gained a reputation as a champion of the working class and the oppressed. In the late 1890s, she moved to the New Australia utopian socialist settlement in Paraguay, but she returned to Australia following its failure. In 1908, she became an editor of the Australian Workers' Union newspaper, and she published her first volume of poems two years later. On what denomination of Australian currency does her image and poetry appear? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 My own business always bores me to death. I prefer other people's.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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handbags at dawn— A confrontation or disagreement that is highly aggressive, emotionally expressive, and/or highly dramatic, but which does not end or result in violence. Used originally and primarily in reference to football (soccer) players, who would be sent off if they engaged in violent actions, the phrase is a play on the clichéd "pistols at dawn," indicating a forthcoming pistol duel. Primarily heard in UK. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Daimonji Okuribi (2023)In Japan, the belief that the souls of the dead return to earth during the Obon Festival gave rise to the custom of lighting great bonfires to guide the souls back to heaven after their yearly visit. This custom is known as Daimonji Okuribi, the Great Bonfire Event. In the city of Kyoto, an enormous flammable structure, built in the shape of the Chinese character dai, meaning "big," is set on fire on the hill in back of the Zenrinji Temple. The character is 530 feet tall and 510 feet wide, providing a spectacular display for city residents. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: loafbread bag - A plastic wrapper in which a loaf of bread is sold, intended to keep the bread fresh for longer than it would be if unwrapped. More... loaf - A head on a cabbage. More... bread - In Old English, it meant "piece, morsel," while actual bread was known as "loaf." More... crumb - The soft inner part of a bread roll, slice, or loaf. More... | |