Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, November 27, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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hard-bitten
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Direct SpeechDirect speech refers to the direct quotation of something that someone else said. It is sometimes known as "quoted speech." Because the quotation happened in the past, we put the reporting verb into what tense? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 SatiSati is an Indian funerary practice in which a widow immolates herself on her husband's funeral pyre. Though its stated purpose is to purge the sins of the couple and ensure their reunion in the afterlife, the practice has been encouraged by the low status of widowhood. Practiced since the 4th century BCE, sati became widespread in India in the 17th and 18th centuries, and not all instances were voluntary. Today, it occurs rarely, and mostly in remote areas. When was the practice outlawed? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Great Storm of 1703: First Eddystone Lighthouse Is Destroyed (1703)For five years, the Eddystone Lighthouse guided mariners safely past the treacherous Eddystone Rocks off the southwestern coast of the UK. Then, a catastrophic hurricane struck. The Great Storm claimed hundreds of ships, thousands of lives, and the Eddystone Lighthouse—along with its builder, Henry Winstanley, who was inside at the time. Fire destroyed the second lighthouse on the site, and erosion led to the dismantling of the third. How did operators mark the 100th anniversary of the fourth? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Chaim Weizmann (1874)A Russian-born chemist, Weizmann became a British subject in 1910, developed a process for creating a synthetic acetone to be used in the manufacture of explosives in 1912, and was director of the British admiralty laboratories for much of WWI. An active Zionist, Weizmann helped negotiate the 1917 Balfour Declaration pronouncing British support of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. When the republic of Israel was eventually founded, he was elected its first president. What is the Weizmann organism? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Poverty doesn't bring unhappiness; it brings degradation.George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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let's not and say (that) we did— A sarcastic expression indicating that one would really rather not do what has been proposed. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Native American Heritage Month (2024)The first general American Indian Day was observed on the second Saturday in May 1916; since 1995, the month of November has been observed as American Indian Heritage Month. Although the largest Native American populations can be found in Oklahoma, Arizona, California, New Mexico, and North Carolina, many other states have come up with ways to draw attention to their unique contribution to American culture. Most celebrations focus on educational and promotional events, displays of Native American art and dance, and agricultural fairs. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: recentAmazonian epoch - The Amazonian epoch is the most recent of the Martian geologic epochs, from 1,800 years ago to the present. More... grey, gray - The distinction in spelling between British grey and American gray is recent, popping up in the 20th century. More... Pleistocene, Pliocene, Miocene, Oligocene - Epochs indicating periods in the Earth's geology; Pleistocene means "most recent," Pliocene means "more recent," Miocene means "moderately recent," and Oligocence means "but a little recent." More... neoteric - Used to describe a person, especially an author, it means one belongs to modern/recent times—but it might also refer to a person having a modern outlook or new ideas; when used of things, it indicates that they are modern, new, or recent. More... | |