Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, October 4, 2024)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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uninitiated
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining ParticiplesParticiples are words formed from verbs that can function as adjectives or gerunds. Participles can also be used to form which verb tenses? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Music of the TrecentoConsidered by some art historians to be the beginning of the Renaissance, the Trecento was a 14th-century period in Italy that saw renewed focus on the arts, including painting, architecture, literature, and, especially, music. Influenced by troubadours and a type of polyphonic sacred music called the conductus, composers throughout the period pioneered new forms of expression, especially in secular songs written in the Italian vernacular. Who was the period's most famous composer? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Sputnik 1 Launch Begins the Space Race (1957)The first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, was launched by the USSR in 1957 and spurred the dormant US space program into action, leading to an international competition popularly known as the "space race." Explorer I, the first American satellite, was launched just months later, in January 1958. In the decade that followed, the US and the USSR launched approximately 50 space probes between them to explore the Moon. What project is said to have marked the end of the space race? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Rutherford B. Hayes (1822)After fighting in the Union army in the American Civil War, Hayes served in the US House of Representatives and then as governor of Ohio. In 1876, he won the Republican nomination for president. His opponent, Samuel Tilden, won a larger popular vote, but the election was so close that a special commission had to decide the issue. It eventually ruled in Hayes's favor. What concessions did Hayes make as part of a secret compromise reached with Southerners during the electoral dispute? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Feast, n.: A festival. A religious celebration usually signalized by gluttony and drunkenness, frequently in honor of some holy person distinguished for abstemiousness.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a joy to behold— A thing, event, or experience that creates a profound sense of joy or elation in the spectator. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Mozambique Peace Day (2024)The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an independent, nonpartisan, national institution, funded by the United States Congress to help prevent and resolve violent international conflicts; it played an instrumental role in brokering the peace in Mozambique. On October 4, 1992, Joaquim Alberto Chissano, President of the Republic of Mozambique, signed the Mozambique General Peace Agreement in Rome and essentially put an end to the country's civil war. To commemorate this day, the Republic of Mozambique has declared October 4 as Peace Day. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: tailscomet - Has a tail, and gets its name from Greek kometes, "long-haired star." More... bangs - The practice of cutting horses' tails the same length was called "banging off," which led to this term for a woman's hairstyle. More... soup-and-fish - Refers to the attire of white tie and tails. More... tailgate - Originally a gate that dropped down at the tail of a wagon. More... | |