Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, November 29, 2023)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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bullhorn
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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One-Syllable AdverbsOne-syllable adverbs are formed into comparatives by adding the suffix "-er" to the end of the word. What suffix is added to create the superlative form? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Mysterious Boulders of MoerakiThe unusually large, spherical Moeraki Boulders that dot a stretch of Koekohe Beach in New Zealand have been the subject of attention since prehistoric times. They range in size from .5 to 2.2 m (1.5 to 6.7 ft) in diameter and are composed of mud, fine-silt, and clay, and are cemented by calcite. Centuries of coastal erosion have exhumed these septarian concretions from the mudstone enclosing them. How many millions of years did it take for the larger Moeraki Boulders to form? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Warren Commission Is Established (1963)Chaired by US Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Warren Commission was appointed by US President Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the shooting of his assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. After months of investigation, it reported that Kennedy was killed by Oswald's rifle shots from the Texas School Book Depository and that Oswald's murder by Jack Ruby was not part of a conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy. What later reports questioned its findings? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Empress Dowager Cixi (1835)Cixi was the Imperial consort who controlled the Chinese Qing dynasty for almost half a century. A low-ranking concubine of the Xianfeng emperor, she bore his only son, the future Tongzhi emperor, in 1856. After the emperor's death, Cixi joined a triumviral regency that governed in the name of her son, who was only six at his accession. During that period, the Taiping and Nian rebellions were put down and the government was briefly revitalized. What happened when Cixi's son died in 1875? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 I made up my mind long ago that life was too short to do anything for myself that I could pay others to do for me.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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have a heavy heart— To have a dejected or miserable attitude or disposition; to be in a depressed or grievous state. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 William Tubman's Birthday (Goodwill Day) (2024)The influence of William V. S. Tubman (1895-1971), Liberia's president for 27 continuous years, was so great that his birthday was established as an official holiday while he still held office. The national legislature declared the holiday in response to a citizens' appeal made in 1952. Decades after his death, Liberians still celebrate the national hero's birthday, also known as Goodwill Day. The most elaborate festivities for Tubman's birthday have always taken place in his native city, Harper, where activities may extend for three days. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: wind instrumentorgan - Comes from Latin organum, from Greek oganon, "implement, instrument, tool"; it was first a very general term, but was then used for "wind instrument" and "functional part of the body." More... poop - Once had the meaning "to make an abrupt sound, as from a wind instrument." More... bell - The flared open end of a wind instrument. More... tootle - To toot continuously, as notes on a wind instrument. More... | |