Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, January 13, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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diggings
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using Sentence FragmentsWe commonly use sentence fragments (phrases, incomplete clauses, or dependent clauses) as standalone sentences. When are these typically used? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The GadgetWith the discovery of fission in 1939, it became clear to scientists that certain radioactive materials could be used to make a bomb of unprecedented power. In the US, the effort to explore this possibility eventually became the Manhattan Project. After years of research and $2 billion spent acquiring sufficient amounts of the two necessary isotopes, uranium-235 and plutonium-239, scientists tested the first nuclear explosive device, code-named "the Gadget," on July 16, 1945, at what location? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First Successful Escape from an Aircraft Using the Ejection Seat (1942)Ejection seats are used in aircraft to quickly propel occupants out in an emergency. Today, they are fired by an explosive charge, but the first ejection seats were powered by compressed air. One of the first aircrafts to be fitted with such a system was the German Heinkel He 280 prototype jet fighter. While testing the He 280 during WWII, pilot Helmut Schenk became the first person to use an ejection seat to make an emergency escape from an aircraft. What went wrong during his test flight? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Antoinette Bourignon (1616)Bourignon was a Flemish Christian mystic. After spending a short time in a convent and as head of an orphanage, she gathered a fanatical following at Amsterdam, believing herself divinely directed to restore the pure spirit of the Gospel. Moving from place to place, she took her printing press with her and disseminated her teachings. Her mystical ideas found particular favor in Scotland, where Bourignianism was declared a heresy. Why did Bourignon flee her home in 1636? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them.Mark Twain (1835-1910) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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(the good) Lord willing and the creek don't rise— rural If all goes as it should; if everything goes well. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Silvesterklausen (Old Silvester Day) (2025)The custom known as Silvesterklausen in the town of Urnäsch, Appenzell Outer Rhoden, Switzerland, is performed both on December 31, New Silvester Day (St. Sylvester's Day), and on January 13, or Old Silvester Day (reflecting the change from the Julian, or Old Style, calendar to the Gregorian, or New Style, calendar in 1582). The men of the village, wearing masks, costumes, and heavy harnesses with bells, traditionally walk in groups from house to house singing wordless yodels. The friends and neighbors who receive them offer them a drink before they move on to the next house. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sailorshurrah, hurray, hooray - Hurrah, hurray, and hooray are alterations of huzza, a sailor's cheer. More... jumper - First a loose jacket worn by sailors, from jump, "a short coat." More... put through the hoop - An ancient marine phrase for a punishment for sailors involving an iron hoop. More... smart money - A phrase meaning money bet by those in the know, originating in 1926; earlier than that, it meant "money paid to sailors, soldiers, workers, etc., who have been disabled while on the job." More... | |