Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, December 2, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Subject PositionsThe subject in a sentence or clause is the person or thing doing, performing, or controlling the action of the verb. The subject most typically occurs at or near the beginning of a clause. What does it precede? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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.jpg) DormancyIn the broadest sense, dormancy is the state in which a living plant organ—such as a seed, bud, tuber, or bulb—fails to exhibit growth, even when environmental conditions are considered favorable. In a stricter context, dormancy is an inhibition of growth internally controlled by factors restricting water and nutrient absorption, gas exchange, cell division, and other metabolic processes necessary for growth. What is the oldest dormant seed that has been germinated into a viable plant? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 John Brown Hanged for Raid on Harpers Ferry (1859)Brown was a radical US abolitionist who advocated armed action to end slavery. He and his supporters murdered five proslavery settlers in Kansas in 1856, and three years later he tried to start an armed liberation movement among slaves by seizing the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, intending to arm local slaves with its weapons. His small force was soon overpowered, and Brown was captured, tried for treason, convicted, and hanged. What went wrong during the raid? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Peter Carl Goldmark (1906)A Hungarian engineer and inventor, Goldmark immigrated to the US in 1933 and went to work in the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) laboratories. There he developed the first commercial color television system, but it was not compatible with existing black-and-white television sets and was soon superseded by one that was. Later, he developed the system that would allow the US Lunar Orbiter to relay photographs from the Moon to Earth. What did he invent that revolutionized the recording industry? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The basis of optimism is sheer terror.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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easier than falling off a log— Extremely easy; very intuitive; requiring little or no skill or effort. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Ngondo Festival (2024)For the majority of the Sawa, a coastal ethnic group in Cameroon, guidance comes from the Jengu water spirits. The annual Ngondo Festival is a special occasion for Sawa chiefs to petition these spirits for prophecies and warnings and to communicate those messages to a gathered assembly. The event, which lasts a few weeks, takes place on the banks of the Wouri River in the country's most populous city, Douala. Various cultural activities accompany the discernment process of the festival. Activities preceding the water feast include traditional wrestling competitions, a canoe race, and a Miss Ngondo pageant. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: countryemancipate - Means "to free from legal, political, social control or restraint by others," and "to free from bondage." The word's Latin elements are manus, "hand," and capere, "to take," and first meant "to release or set free." More... assassin - Thought by some to derive from an Arabic word meaning "hashish user," as members of an Islamic sect in various countries during the time of the Crusades (13th century) ate hashish to intoxicate themselves before setting out to assasinate enemy leaders. More... patriot - Greek pater, "father," led to Latin patriota, "fellow countryman," which was the original meaning of patriot when it came into English in the late 1500s. More... country, nation - Both came into English c. 1330 and tend to be used interchangeably. Country comes from Latin contrata (terra), "the landscape in front of one, the landscape lying opposite to the view." Nation is from Latin nation-/natio, "race, class of person." More... | |