Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, January 2, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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enkindle
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Writing Compound NounsWriting compound nouns is a bit complicated due to the fact that they can take three different forms. What are "open compound nouns"? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Fresnel LensA Fresnel lens is a thin optical lens that has the properties of much thicker and heavier lenses. It consists of concentric rings of segmental lenses that bend and magnify light rays, creating a single, concentrated beam of light. This design allows the lens to capture more oblique light from a light source than conventional lenses, making its beam visible across greater distances. The light from the first Fresnel lens, placed in a lighthouse in 1823, could be seen from how far away? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Second "Palmer Raid" Takes Place (1920)During the "Red Scare" that followed World War I, US Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer attempted to deport political radicals, dissidents, and aliens in the notorious "Palmer Raids." The first raid took place in late 1919. The second series of raids began in January 1920. In total, some 3,000 allegedly subversive aliens were rounded up for deportation. A few hundred were deported, but the vast majority were released. The raids were preceded by bombings targeting what officials? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Ernst Barlach (1870)Barlach was an outstanding German expressionist sculptor, graphic artist, and writer. Through the power of his simple, angular, and compact forms, he communicated intense emotion and compassion. From clay modeling he turned to wood carving and woodcutting, which imbued his work with a rough-hewn quality. He achieved fame in the 1920s and 30s with the execution of several war memorials for the Weimar Republic. Why were many of Barlach's works destroyed or confiscated as "degenerate art"? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Folklore, legends, myths, and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous, and manifestly unreal.L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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look for a dog to kick— To seek out someone to blame or castigate, especially someone who is not at fault. (Usually said in the continuous tense.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Berchtold's Day (2025)In Switzerland, the day after New Year's Day is known as Berchtoldstag and is celebrated primarily by children. Groups of playmates organize parties that feature nut eating and nut games followed by singing and folk dancing. A popular game is the building of "hocks" composed of four nuts placed close together with a fifth balanced on top. The children begin gathering and stockpiling nuts for Berchtold's Day festivities early in the fall. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: yesterdayhestern, hesternal - Hestern or hesternal means "pertaining to yesterday." More... nudiustertian - Pertaining to the day before yesterday. More... pridian - "Of or relating to a previous day or yesterday; former." More... yesterday - The yester of yesterday and yesteryear was a word on its own, meaning "yesterday," but by Old English it had become a collocation with "day." More... | |