Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, November 11, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Modal Auxiliary VerbsA modal auxiliary verb is used to change the meaning of other verbs by expressing modality—that is, asserting (or denying) possibility, likelihood, ability, permission, obligation, or future intention. What are modal verbs unable to do? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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| This Day in History | |
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 Kaprun Disaster Leaves 155 Dead (2000)High above the Austrian ski resort of Kaprun, a funicular railway car carrying over 160 people to a glacier caught fire after a defective heater ignited hydraulic brake fluid in the rear of the car. Only partway through a 2-mi (3.2-km) tunnel, the car came to a sudden halt. As the fire grew, the passengers were plunged into darkness and trapped behind inoperable doors. Almost all who managed to escape the burning car suffocated in the tunnel. How did the 12 survivors manage to escape to safety? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Daisy Lee Gatson Bates (1914)Bates was a key figure in the integration of public schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. The publisher of a newspaper, Bates began publicizing civil rights issues in the early 1940s. In 1957, when the Little Rock School Board chose nine black students to integrate the local high school, Bates organized the group's activities amid mob violence so intense that the students could only enter the school under military guard. On what national holiday is Daisy Gatson Bates Day observed in Arkansas? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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| Idiom of the Day | |
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a kindred spirit— A person who shares several or many fundamental beliefs, ideas, convictions, sentiments, attitudes, and/or interests with oneself. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Veterans Day (Emporia, Kansas) (2024)Veterans Day was founded in Emporia, Kansas, on November 11, 1953. For decades, November 11 was observed in the United States as Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of World War I. But in 1953 the City of Emporia created a special program to honor all veterans; the U.S. Congress passed a bill changing the name of the federal holiday the following year. In recognition of its role in defining Veterans Day, Emporia celebrates the holiday with 10 days of special events, including museum exhibits, races, essay and poster contests, luncheons, and memorial luminaria. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: hosthost - One of its early senses was "army." More... harbinger - Originally, one who provided lodging or acted as a host. More... table d' hote, prix fixe - Table d' hote, literally "table of the host," is a complete meal with specified courses for a set price—and means the same as prix fixe. More... French leave - Comes from the French custom of leaving a ball or dinner without saying goodbye to the host or hostess. More... | |